Case Study
Empowering children and young people to better manage their asthma with the Digital Health Passport
LONG-TERM CONDITIONS IN CHILDHOOD THEME
With over 5000 users, the NICE-recommended DHP app significantly improves young peoples’ skills and confidence in self-management and tackles health inequalities in asthma care.
Unmet Need
The UK has the worst asthma mortality in Europe for 10-24 year olds, accompanied by one of the highest prevalence and emergency admission rates. Around one million children and young people in the UK are receiving treatment for asthma but less than 25% have a personalised asthma action plan in place. There is a lack of engaging and accessible resources to help young people understand and manage their asthma day-to-day. This reliance on reactive care leads to avoidable hospital visits, disruption to school attendance, and young people feeling overwhelmed by their condition.
Solution
The Digital Health Passport (DHP) is a free, NICE-recommended app designed to support young people living with asthma and their families. The DHP for Asthma has been shaped by a significant clinical need and has been co-developed with patients at every step to create a safe, accessible platform that improves asthma control at scale. By providing the right tools for young people to better manage asthma at home, such as symptom and trigger trackers, medication reminders, and tailored action plans, the DHP supports personalised, preventative care in the community.
Support Provided by the HRC
The DHP for Asthma was developed by Tiny Medical Apps, co-founded by Dr Greg Burch, an emergency doctor. The NIHR HRC PCH played a central role in supporting co-design and development, bringing together patient insight, clinical expertise, and system partners to ensure the solution is usable, relevant, and scalable.
Professor Heather Elphick, Clinical Lead for our Long-Term Conditions in Childhood Theme, led on the development of Moving on Asthma (MoA), a PIF TICK certified online video-based resource which has been integrated into the DHP. MoA empowers young people to educate themselves about their asthma, self-advocate, and learn to manage their healthcare independently.
PATIENT INVOLVEMENT
SECURING FUNDING
MENTORSHIP THROUGH ACCELERATOR PROGRAMME
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project Progress
FROM
TRL STAGE
TO
TRL STAGE
Outcomes & Impact
The DHP for Asthma has over 5,000 users and demonstrates how digitally enabled self-management can improve outcomes, reduce pressure on services, and support a shift towards more personalised, preventative care.
PATIENT BENEFIT
An independent evaluation by UCLPartners of 5,000 DHP users showed statistically significant improvements in Asthma Control Test scores and patient activation measures within 3 months of use, including a clear improvement in users’ knowledge, skills, and confidence. Young people are better able to understand their condition, recognise symptoms, and take action earlier, reducing the risk of severe episodes.
These improvements are strongly linked to reduced exacerbations and hospital admissions, as well as better attendance at school and work.
REDUCING HEALTH INEQUALITIES
The DHP has begun to address health inequalities in asthma care by successfully engaging users from deprived areas and diverse ethnic backgrounds, with 52% of registered users coming from the two most deprived Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintiles.
Tiny Medicals Apps used a unique approach with a TikTok campaign to encourage social media-driven user engagement, which helped reach young people who may not regularly engage with traditional NHS services.
FUNDING LEVERAGED
The project has leveraged over £1.35 million from a number of funding streams, including NHSX and SBRI Healthcare, and has been further strengthened through participation in the UP Ventures Children and Young People’s HealthTech Accelerator, supported by the HRC PCH.
Building on this success, a further £799,725 has been secured from SBRI Healthcare to extend the Digital Health Passport to support young people with epilepsy, which the NIHR HRC PCH are supporting alongside Young Epilepsy.
THE ROAD TO NHS ADOPTION
The journey to implementing the DHP for Asthma in the NHS is underway.
An Early Value Assessment from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends use of the DHP in the NHS, a significant benchmark for high quality, evidence-based healthcare resources.
Three Integrated Care Boards have independently funded the service beyond the initial programme period, demonstrating confidence in its value within real-world NHS settings.
The DHP has also achieved regulatory milestones including Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC) approval, ISO 27001 certification, and Cyber Essentials + certification.
HEALTH ECONOMICS & SERVICE IMPACT
Improved asthma control also has the potential to benefit health and care systems by reducing the demand on emergency and asthma management services and enabling more efficient use of NHS resources. Young people and families being better equipped to manage asthma at home is expected to result in fewer emergency appointments, hospital admissions, and face-to-face reviews.
An independent health economics evaluation by UCLPartners estimates a £8.21 potential return on investment for every £1 spent over three years in the NHS.
PUBLICATION & DISSEMINATION
As part of a campaign led by the NIHR HRC Network in celebration of 20 years of the NIHR, NIHR HRC PCH co-authored a case study for the DHP for Asthma.
Tiny Medical Apps has hosted a webinar about how the digital tools can support young people with asthma and an incredibly insightful podcast that shares the story of Terri and her son, Ethan.
The DHP has been presented at several conferences and events, notably the Child Health Technology Conference in 2025 as both an abstract presentation and panel discussion about Sheffield Children’s National Centre for Child Health Technology, and as an expert case study in a webinar about “The Innovation Journey” for the NIHR HRC PCH education programme, Elevate2Innovate.
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