JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Overdose and related fatalities have significantly increased in Canada since 2015. Despite efforts by the government and providers of care, the number of fatalities continues to reach historic levels. In order to reduce mortality, a clinical trajectory from preventative measures to crisis intervention, skill training to treatment, and risk assessment to risk management needs to be supported. The Risk Assessment and Management Platform (RAMP) was developed to realize this concept and to empower individuals who use substances, provide them with a tool to better understand and manage their risk of overdose, and to facilitate informed decision-making.

Objective:

This paper introduces the architecture and development of RAMP.

Methods:

RAMP is developed on the WordPress platform. WordPress utilizes a three-tier architecture which consists of presentation, application, and database layers. Presentation layer is responsible for presenting the content and functionality to the user. Application layer provides the underlying functionality and controls the flow of data between the presentation and database tiers. Database layer uses MySQL to store information, and it is accessed by the application tier to retrieve and manipulate data. The architecture facilitates development of modular software which includes several features that are independent in functionality but well interact with each other in an integrated platform.

Results:

RAMP follows the WordPress architecture design. RAMP’s three-tier architecture comprises of user interface, conceptual framework, and backend layers. RAMP features involve all three layers. These layers have a modular design with relatively low coupling and high coherence which reduce cost of maintenance and increases flexibility of future developments. The RAMP frontend effectively uses some of the WordPress presentation tier features such as HTML5, CSS, and Javascript to create a mobile friendly and scalable user interface. The backend of RAMP uses several WordPress standard and custom plugins to support the identification, assessment, planning and monitoring of risks in order to eliminate them as much as possible or mitigate their impact if they are materialized. A rule-based decision support system has been hard coded to suggest relevant modules and goals to complement each user’s lifestyle and goals. Finally, the backend uses MySQL Database Management System and communicates with the RAMP framework layer via the Data Access layer to facilitate a timely and secure handling of information.

Conclusions:

RAMP is a modular system developed to identify and manage the risk of mental health disorders. The system is currently implemented to address high-risk substance use disorders, specifically overdose. There is potential for the current system to adopt and address other related fields such as suicide, anxiety, and trauma. Broader implementation will support this concept and lead to the next level of functionality