StrivePD: Revolutionizing Parkinson Disease Care Through Data and Personalization

Amanda Hare, DNP

Parkinson disease (PD), the second most common neurodegenerative disorder worldwide, is characterized by the cardinal features of rest tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, and postural instability, along with a variety of other motor and non-motor symptoms. The disease’s medication regimes can be complex, involving multiple therapies taken at different dosages with precise timing. Medication adherence is significant for symptom control and treatment outcomes, as non-adherence leads to increased risk for movement complications, social burdens and healthcare costs, as well as a reduced quality of life.

StrivePD, a software created by Rune Labs, tracks medication use, adverse events, and patient-reported outcomes such as mood and overall health. The mobile app enables patients to log symptoms and track what makes them feel better or worse. To learn more about how this application can impact the PD community, NeurologyLive^® sat down with Amanda Hare, DNP, a doctor of nursing practice specialized in movement disorders and medical science liaison at Rune Labs.

In the discussion, Hare emphasized StrivePD’s user-centric design, privacy, and actionable insights. In addition, she talks about how the app improves symptoms management and facilitates personalized care by helping patients identify trends and correlations in their daily experiences. Above all, she notes how StrivePD represents a significant step forward in proactive and patient-centered PD management.

NeurologyLive: Can you give me an overview of the StrivePD software?

Amanda Hare, DNP: it’s a disease management care tool that enables people living with PD to track their symptoms and medications. They can share their daily PD experience with their neurologists—or keep it for themselves—just to track how they’re doing over time. It helps us create a personalized strategy for each patient. It’s all done through the iPhone and Apple Watch.

What I think is really unique about StrivePD is that the user can explore interactive charts and gain insights into how they’re doing. All of that data is given back to the patient in a very digestible format. For example, if I add a medication for a patient to help control their dyskinesia or off-time, they can follow their graphs as the watch passively collects their dyskinesia data. Over time, they can see trends and compare their symptoms before and after starting the medication.

As a clinician, this gives me both subjective feedback—how the patient feels—and objective data on whether the medication is helping or if it’s causing more side effects than benefits. It’s such a helpful tool. Another really unique thing I’ve noticed is that it improves communication between my patients and me. With all this data, patients come to clinic empowered. They ask the hard questions, and together we analyze their patterns.

I’ve always thought we have unrealistic expectations for patients. We ask them to remember all their motor and non-motor symptoms, medications, exercise routines, and life events across three to six months between visits. That’s overwhelming. StrivePD captures all of this data, helping patients synthesize what’s been happening over a longer time frame, not just what’s occurred in the last two weeks.

What’s great is that it’s very personalized. Patients can log specific symptoms I ask them to track. For example, if someone is experiencing lightheadedness or dizziness, they can log that, and I can correlate it with when they’re taking midodrine. That helps us adjust medications to ensure they’re optimized and safe.

I tell my patients that StrivePD provides real-time, objective feedback on their symptoms, medications, and activities. It encourages them to stay on track. Maybe they see they haven’t been as consistent with their medication schedule, or maybe they haven’t exercised as much. This data helps patients see what they need to work on day-to-day. And all they’re doing is wearing their Apple Watch and quickly logging their meds.

It’s been really rewarding to see patients become active participants in their disease management. StrivePD is the care tool that makes that possible.

Is this app applicable to all patients with Parkinson disease?

Yes, absolutely! What’s amazing about this app is that it was created by a patient living with PD: Aura Oslapas was the original creator of StrivePD. She still sits on our patient advisory board, which includes about six members who keep us grounded. We gather consistent feedback from the board and from our users. We even hold interviews about their experiences to ensure the product is easy to use, focuses on the important issues, and provides actionable data.

I always say, “Data is great, but what do you do with it?” The goal is to apply the data clinically to improve decision-making and enhance quality of life. For us, patients always come first. We prioritize transparency, privacy, and compliance to optimize their experience.

What’s unique is that we give all the data back to patients. This is a direct-to-patient initiative. We’re constantly refining the app to make sure it’s secure and accurate.

So yes, any person with PD can use the app as long as they can wear the watch and charge their phone. StrivePD can be incredibly beneficial. It requires minimal interaction. For example, if patients want to track their tremor, dyskinesia, or walking and balance issues, all of that is collected passively. It’s a low-burden, high-impact tool.

What are some of the main actionable data collected through the app?

This is where precision neurology comes in. We know there are common symptoms in PD, but no two patients experience the disease the same way. For instance, not everyone has tremor. We also know exercise is critical, but the type and duration can vary for each person.

StrivePD lets patients focus on what’s important to them. For example, if someone loves golfing but struggles with off-time, we can use the app to track their off-time and see if certain medications reduce it. That might allow them to enjoy golfing or going out to dinner with friends again.

It’s also helpful for identifying patterns. Patients can log symptoms that bother them or reduce their quality of life. Together, we analyze the data. For example, if someone notices their symptoms are worse on weekends, we might discover they’re skipping their regular exercise class or not taking medications as consistently because they’re busy with family.

The app recently introduced auto-generated reports. We use AI to synthesize months of data into easy-to-read summaries. Over 10,000 users now receive these monthly reports, which compare their progress from one month to the next. The reports show trends in tremor, mobility, exercise, and medication adherence. They’re easy to download and share with clinicians, making clinic visits much more productive.

How can this app be further optimized? Have you had conversations about potential improvements?

We’re always looking for feedback from clinicians and patients about what would make StrivePD even better. Many clinicians have said they’d love the Apple Watch to measure bradykinesia and rigidity. Others have suggested features to predict symptoms like off-time or worsening tremor, so patients can take a proactive approach to managing their care.

Right now, we’re running a pilot program to see how StrivePD can reduce hospitalizations and emergency room visits for patients with PD. Hospitals aren’t always the best environment for these patients—they might miss their medication schedule, receive contraindicated drugs, or become deconditioned from being immobile. This pilot aims to show how StrivePD can help prevent those situations.

We’re also exploring partnerships with Medicare Advantage plans and healthcare systems to reduce costs while improving outcomes. This is going to be even more important as the number of patients with Parkinson grows.

How does StrivePD align with where Parkinson care is heading?

This is the exciting part. We have the opportunity to shift toward more proactive, personalized disease management. StrivePD helps individuals understand their disease better and get the right treatment plan at the right time. Our goal is to slow disease progression and improve quality of life.

We’re also involved in therapeutic development. We partner with biopharma and medical device companies to accelerate clinical trials. StrivePD’s technology collects real-world, objective data that can reduce the burden on participants and expedite research.

For example, less than 10% of patients with Parkinson participate in clinical trials. With StrivePD, we can match patients to low-burden trials. This is especially important for disease-modifying therapies, which often require patients to be newly diagnosed and unmedicated. We’re working to raise awareness about these opportunities early in the disease process.

Ultimately, we’re excited about what the future holds. People with Parkinson deserve more, and we’re committed to advancing care and finding a cure.