From the developers at Phoenix MedCreations, KidNorm, brings all the complexities of child development between ages 0 to 18 to the palm of Android users.
KidNorm serves as a reference app designed to be used not only by medical students, healthcare professionals, and physicians, but parents and caregivers as well.
Phoenix MedCreations have designed a very robust and comprehensive app really unlike any other so far on the Google Play market.
Although the app is well suited for parents and caregivers, the overall approach of KidNorm caters more to students and healthcare professionals. Since most of us here at iMedicalapps are healthcare focused, we will take a closer look at KidNorm from a healthcare provider’s point of view.
Pediatrics is a separate medical specialty or subspecialty for a reason: it deals not only with patients that are constantly growing and changing, but whom are also unable to effectively communicate. Not only does a child vary greatly in size as he/she grows, much of the child’s physiology and anatomy differ during this age range, too.
Knowing developmental milestones, vaccination schedules, and normal vitals and lab values for the pediatric population has always been an important emphasis in Pediatrics, and may initially be difficult for some students to master in school as it was for me. This is where Phoenix MedCreation’s app, KidNorm, comes in. It’s an app that summarizes everything difficult about pediatrics to those who are still learning or undergoing training.
Commonly, most apps that potentially have significant impacts on clinical decision making will have a disclaimer somewhere in the app, suggesting that healthcare providers should use their own judgement when applying information provided by these apps.
KidNorm not only follows this trend, but really pounds this message in by making users “accept” its disclaimer every time the app is started up.
KidNorm covers topics including: “Developmental Milestones,” “Typical Well-Child Visit,” “What to Expect,” “Reference Values,” “Vaccination Schedule, and ”Guide for Providers of a Comprehensive Visit,” that are all ultimately subdivided by age groups.
The app is loaded with a wealth of information regarding child development, compiled from an exhaustive list of resources, and KidNorm isn’t shy in showing it. There is a dedicated reference citation section provided on the main menu for those who are curious. In my opinion, apps that provide their reference sources substantially builds credibility to the developers. For medical apps, this should definitely be encouraged!
As you can see from the pictures above, most of the content is presented as bullet points rather than descriptive passages, allowing for easier and quicker access to accurate information of interest. Navigating through the many layers of menus may seem tedious at first, but after realizing how extensive the information is that this app provides and how similar developmental descriptions sound to each other, having such detailed divisions is absolutely necessary.
Much of the information found on this app should be familiar to a lot of us. Although the individual content may seem subtle and mundane, it does reflect those emphasized in textbooks and medical school courses. This crucial information allows caregivers to monitor a child’s development and healthcare providers to offer safe and appropriate care.
Several sections present itself via table format for the sake of clarity, such as vaccination schedules and vital signs based on age range.
KidNorm includes a large table reference for appropriate pediatric equipment sizes for Healthcare providers. This may prove to be extremely helpful especially for those of us who are still in training or who do not specifically specialize in pediatric populations. Having such a table at hand would definitely be a helpful guide during situations involving pediatric patients.
As a side note, KidNorm is a completely text based app with the occasional use of tables. The app lacks any diagrams or graphical content despite its possibly misleading app icon. However, the developers have allowed users to highlight the app’s content for copying and pasting to other apps or documents. A very generous and awesome feature that definitely gives the app a couple extra points.
So far with my use, I have not really encountered any negatives about the app. KidNorm is a simple and straightforward app that serves strictly as reference material. As previously mentioned, the entire app is text based and really lacks any complicated graphics or functionality. Perhaps adding some graphic content may enhance the overall experience.
I was initially lead to believe that KidNorm offered monitoring functionalities for parents to track their own child(ren). However, this is not true!
Again, I have failed to read the long introduction on their Google Play page and probably was mislead by the app’s icon. To reiterate, KidNorm is strictly a reference app, and has no actual applicable use other than that. However, there are many child development tracking apps out available on the market. KidNorm, I believe, may serve as a strong supplement to those apps allowing parents to care for their child(ren) with even more confidence.
Price
- $2.99
Likes
- Content organization allowing for easy access to useful information
- Suitable for parents and caregivers, but even better for healthcare professionals
- Wealth of information from extensive list of credible sources
- Text sellection allowed
Dislikes
- None really, but perhaps adding more graphic content may improve overall experience
Conclusion
KidNorm is a text based reference app that is simple, lightweight, and easy to use. Pediatric development is a complicated topic and there is a lot of information out there discussing normal development. KidNorm does a fine job at collecting and organizing this wealth of information, allowing users to navigate through it exceptionally easily. The developers build their credibility by providing an extensive list of reference materials.
Designed to be used for students and healthcare providers, the app is also suitable for the parents or caregivers to use. The app perhaps is best supplemented by a child development monitoring app that is widely available on Google Play.
