Olá!

 

The end of my sixth week has come and gone and it is crazy to think that Paula and I have two more weeks left here in Barretos. This past week was mainly spent working on our application. We focused on further developing the user interface as well as finishing the backend Firebase integration. We also had the opportunity to follow along with a mobile unit truck that performs pap smears and mammograms in the smaller communities surrounding Barretos. I found the tours with the mobile unit to be extremely eye opening. Hospital de Amor is a very well equipped hospital and is comparable to any medical environment one would find in the United States. After touring with the mobile unit and having the chance to see public hospitals in these smaller towns though it became very clear that these pristine environments I have had the chance to work in are not the normal treating environments which citizens in these areas experience. It further speaks volumes to the amazing work that has been and is being done at Hospital de Amor. I only hope that through the creation of our app that Paula and I can help not only those who are at Hospital de Amor, but also those who come from these farther regions.

To make better use of our time when programming Paula and I chose to split the components of the app which needed to be developed. Paula focused on completing the backend integration. Backend integration provides a location or server where information developed in app by a user can be stored. For our app it is important to have backend integration as each patient will require that they have their own login. If each patient has their own login then each patient has a protected platform where they can send messages to Dr. Deny with confidence knowing that no one else will come across their medical information. This login information must be stored outside of the app though thus explaining why we require backend integration. The process of coding is particularly difficult as it requires that the software the app is running on is able to connect to the correct internet location. An improper internet access connection could result in hacking and the accidental spreading of medical information in our case. Thankfully the Firebase platform we have chosen to use helps in not only providing a location to store patient login information, but also in notifying if a developed app is incorrectly connecting and sharing authentication information through the internet. While Paula worked on the app’s backend integration I was working on the user interface. 

 

I spent last week working on the many screens and inter-app integrations a patient will be interacting with through our app.  I first created a two button main home screen. One button, labeled “criar compromisso”, directs patients to another page where they are given two options. One option immediately dials the hospital and another opens their main email application with the email of the hospital and a subject prewritten. Both these options allow a patient to make an appointment with Dr. Deny if need be. Going back to the main home screen the second button, “reportar problema”, allows patients to begin the process of directly messaging Dr. Deny to consult with him for some advice. After clicking “reportar problema” patients are first presented with three buttons. The first when clicked explains how best to explain ones pain so that Dr. Deny can help advise. The second when clicked explains how best to take a photo of one’s pain so that Dr. Deny can visualize the problem. The last button will then eventually provide access to the messaging platform where patients will be able to take photos and communicate with Dr. Deny. Bellow is a video which shows the components of the app I describe above to better help illustrate. 

Looking forward into next week there is much which is left to be done to begin finishing the app. Internally Paula and I plan on finishing the main components of the app this week so that for the final week all that is left is creating presentation materials in regards to our work, organizing the code for clarity and refining the user interface. This week Paula and I will need to combine the code we have been working on into one project. To do this the login button on Paula’s code will need to integrate and lead the patient into the code I have created. We will also need to look into how best to create the messaging platform. To store the messages produced by the patient and Dr. Deny, we plan to again use Firebase. There will need to be a combination of backend connections with a user interface that can adjust and change with each new message. Finally, we would like to create a more uniform color scheme throughout the app and simplify the design so that it looks like one unified project. I hope to be able to share a walk through video of our mostly completed app by next post! 

 

Until then, até logo!