CHSO partners with academe for health promotion apps
The Baguio City Health Services Office (CHSO) collaborated with three higher education institutions in the city for the development of digital applications focused on community health education and promotion.
The initiative was led by the CHSO-Health Promotion Unit and funded by the Department of Health (DOH) Cordillera at P150,000 for each of the three partner academic institutions according to Rommel De Guzman of the CHSO-HPU.
Guzman explained the initiative highlights the significance of tapping the youth in solving health concerns by leveraging digital technology to complement existing health program implementations.
The first digital tool developed by students from the Data Center College of the Philippines-Baguio is a web application for Sexually Transmitted Infection – Human Immunodeficiency Virus (STI-HIV) that aims to address stigma and increase public awareness measures.
The app features education content on STI-HIV and includes location maps for testing and counselling centers as well as the location of the 16 District Health Centers in the city. A chatbot for inquiries is also available for IEC.
The second tool is a mobile app called “HyperCare” for monitoring of immunization and vaccines for babies; and, hypertension medication monitoring system developed by students from the Informatics Baguio City.
The app is an offline monitoring tool with a dashboard containing vaccine information and an alert feature to remind on routine vaccines for infants, schedules, required dosage, and other vaccination details. For hypertension medication, it features a tracking system with message notification for the user.
The third tool called “iClinicSys” is a nutrition-focused web system developed by students from the University of Philippines Baguio. The system is an offline medical database of the community aimed to unify the various platforms used by the CHSO in storing and accessing their records.
De Guzman said the digital applications will still be finalized with inputs from the CHSO before implementation. – JM Samidan
