A Health App for Community Heroes
The Challenge
In the Philippines, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are a significant issue. Many people succumb to heart and brain diseases. The Department of Health introduced the Philippine Package of Essential Non-Communicable Disease Interventions (Phil PEN) to address this. However, healthcare workers found it cumbersome due to excessive paperwork.
The Solution
To streamline the process, a mobile app called the PhilPEN Risk Stratification app was developed. Designed for community health workers (CHWs), this app was created using extreme prototyping. Its primary goal is to simplify the assessment of patients' risks.
The Study
A study evaluated the app's effectiveness using the Mobile App Rating Scale (uMARS), which rates apps from 1 to 5. The study aimed to determine if the app could achieve a score above 3 and whether uMARS could help improve app development.
The Results
The findings were promising:
- The app significantly improved CHWs' ability to perform their duties.
- uMARS proved valuable in enhancing app usability.
This breakthrough is crucial as effective apps can greatly assist healthcare workers in their mission to combat NCDs.