AMIR SHAQILE SINGH B SHAH

Background Information on the Organisation

Singapore Health Services (commonly abbreviated as SingHealth) is Singapore’s largest cluster of healthcare institutions. SingHealth operates SingHealth Polyclinics, a network of primary care polyclinics largely situated in the southeast, east, and northeast Singapore. They provide primary care services to the population in those areas, and also provide training for aspiring family medicine physicians.

Background Of Our App

The aim of the project is to create an app or a storyboard by recognizing the needs of patients in the polyclinics and using our app to educate and help patients learn medical information (i.e symptoms and information about diseases) and measures to take to prevent and remedy certain illnesses. When we started our project, we decided to focus on the elderly as our target audience as they are the main generation facing the issue of keeping up with technology. To do this, we used the Thunkable software to help us programme our app. This app would then be installed in iPads, which would be placed in the E-Pal area in the new Eunos polyclinic. In order for us to implement the app, we would require the space in the E - Pal area as well as the iPads for users to be able to interact with this application. Along with that, should the app be successful, we planned on putting it on the App Store and Google Play which would cost some money ($99 a month for App Store and $25 for a lifetime on Google).

Our App's Interface:

Search By Symptoms

Search By Name

Health Tips

Mini - Game

Home Screen

This is the home page for users to choose which function of the application they would like to use

Loading Screen

The loading screen generates random medical fun facts and even clears misconceptions while the user waits for their content to load.

The App's Functions:

Search By Symptoms - allows users to select from the various symptoms that they had and they would get, in turn, a list of illnesses that they possibly might have
Search By Name - allows users to find out more information with regards to a specific illness that they wish to find out more about
Useful Sources - allows users to browse through alternative sources should they want to find out more health facts or medical information
Health Tips - allows users to learn various interesting health tips that they can use in their daily life to improve their lifestyle
Mini Games - allows users to have fun in the form of a game while at the same time learning medical facts and information should they win or lose (also encourages getting to know others in the Polyclinic as there are two player games)

ELABORATION OF WORK DONE

In order for us to programme the app, we had to go through various hours of tutorials to fully understand how to use the Thunkable software. Even though I had some prior experience with using the Thunkable software, I had to go through some tutorials to learn how to include certain functions like the search bar in our application. We also had to spend some days at the library to look at some books to compile our medical information that we planned to use in the app, along with the countless hours spent searching up some websites to gain a more in-depth knowledge of various illnesses and such. A few days after, we met up with the doctor again to update him on our progress, we then decided to add a gamification component through the form of a quiz-game to as another way for patients to learn medical facts while enjoying themselves.

Whilst doing our research, it came to our attention that the Singhealth app had many of the functions that we had. However, it was not very well liked by the public (in terms of app rating and complaints) and therefore we took it upon ourselves to make our app more functional and easy to use so that we wouldn’t face this problem. I will delve on the way we improved on the app. First we made it more user friendly, in the form of bigger options as well as a simple to use interface to allow users to extract medical information easily. We also ensured there were no bugs in the program that would result in the app crashing when opened (one of the main issues faced with Singhealth Healthbuddy). While there were many other issues with the app like the inability to set appointments properly, we decided not to focus on it as we felt is was out of our ability (though it would have been a good addition to our app)

One of the biggest challenges for our project was the bugs in the programming, which held us back some time. However, it was through these bugs we were able to learn from our errors so that we didn’t repeat them in the future and even better our components that we had done to make the app smoother.

Another challenge for us was the time we had to complete the project. We did our best to ensure that we would not compromise on the functionality of the app but given more time there would be various other functions ( like maybe the appointment placing (beta)) and the bookmark tabs, allowing users to personalize and save their data or interesting facts they learnt in a folder for easy access. We even thought about including a username and profile function so their bookmarked facts would be saved should they use or switch to another device.

3 skills/content learnt

I think an integral thing that I learnt was how to use the Thunkable software to build and programme the app. While programming itself was not an easy task to do, moreover in the short span of a month, the satisfaction from completing our app made it worthed. While we weren’t taught how to programme itself, this WOW course gave me an opportunity to push myself to learn and use the software while learning medical knowledge which I can carry with me for years to come. Moreover, programming is a sought after skill that is needed as Singapore delves into the digital age.

2. I don’t plan on writing any content knowledge because this is all information that can be researched and delved into and instead hope to show the soft skills I learnt during this entire experience. I also learnt the importance of teamwork in the project because we need to be able to work together efficiently while collating data, compiling code and even planning the layouts and designs for the app itself as there are many things to do and the designation and delegation of the work is important. Moreover, putting the app together in such a short span of time was no easy feat. We had to ensure that we put our heads together and efficiently divide tasks or we would be heavily behind schedule.

3. I learnt to appreciate doctors, nurses and the services that they provide for us better. Prior to the WOW experience, I didn't exactly have much experience interacting with doctors and nurses and learning what they do and how they are able to run the entire polyclinic smoothly. While it looks easy, there are so many things that have to be taken care of while handling the patients and their needs. The WOW programme gave me an opportunity to see how everything works, whether it be scheduling appointments or even handling patients, giving me a newfound respect for nurses and doctors for what they do.

Interesting aspects

While we had limited time with Dr Moey to teach us more about the place, we were able to learn so much from how a day in his life goes at the Polyclinic as well as get a glimpse into the past from the sharing from a senior nurse at the Polyclinic, allowing us to really understand the issues staff face and even show us how much the Polyclinic and Singapores health industry has evolved over the past few decades.

of our learning

We were also able to empathise with the staff with regards to waiting time and complaints and see things from their perspective, something we weren't able to do so before. This allowed us to see the passion the staff really have for their job to be able to deal with these issues while handling patients and other administrative matters and allowed me personally to see how much graciousness really is appreciated in the field. It showed me how a simple thank you to show our gratitude for their service means so much and spurs them to do what they do.

TAKEAWAY FOR LIFE 🍱

I learnt what it truly means to be a doctor. Other than just handling patients and treating illnesses, they do so much more. Like for Dr. Moey, he also watches out for the welfare of his staff (on top of that of his patients) and is constantly looking to make the Polyclinic a more convenient and easier experience for all. He is even kickstarting Eunos Polyclinic, another addition to boost the services available. His determination, passion and drive that spurs him is something that I admire as he is constantly looking to make things better for others. He made the WOW! experience memorable as he gave me someone to look up to as I myself aspire to be a doctor. Through this WOW! experience, it allowed me to have a more clear idea of what I want to do in the future as I enjoyed the fusion of programming as well as of learning medical information and this gives me something to work towards to. That, to me, is my biggest takeaway, as I have a more clear idea of who I want to be in the future.

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