Wednesday 27 August 2025

SETU software development student Darren Maher and his co-creator Ava McGurk have developed an online application to support recreational therapists in creating individual therapy plans for clients.

SETU software development student, Darren Maher and his co-creator Ava McGurk.

Maher is a student on SETU’s Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Software Development and he is no stranger to tech innovation, having previously created the Irish language learning app, Píosa Beag. 

Building individualised therapy plans

His latest co-creation, ReCreo, is an app for recreational therapists that supports healthcare providers in building individualised therapy plans for clients. The app aims to increase face-to-face interaction between therapist and client, by cutting down on the amount of administration hours required outside of sessions. 

ReCreo was brought to life when Maher and McGurk took part in the Patch summer programme at Dublin’s Dogpatch labs. Patch is an accelerator programme for young people aged 16 to 21 who want to build projects that push society forward. Participants are interested in driving innovation in science, engineering, design, technology, and entrepreneurship.

Maher’s personal experience was the inspiration for developing technology to help in the vital area of recreational therapy.  

“Both Ava and I have experience of younger relatives being in long term care, which is where the idea of therapeutic recreation (TR) first came from,” explained Maher.

Restore confidence

“TR can help children with long-term illnesses to restore the confidence they may have lost as a result of an extended stay in hospital. It uses a ‘therapy-through-play’ approach that helps to enhance a child’s physical, emotional, and social wellbeing. This is particularly important for kids who have had to spend a significant amount of time in hospital, away from their everyday settings with friends and family,” he said.

“Our hope for ReCreo is that it allows for increased face-to-face therapy between therapists and their clients by reducing the amount of time that therapists have to spend on repetitive admin,” added Maher.

Since finishing the Patch programme, he has been selected for the National Digital Research Centre (NDRC) pre-accelerator programme. The NDRC will help Maher continue to refine ReCreo and eventually build a tool that makes all therapists jobs easier.