Tech to the rescue!: What COVID-19 means to the future of tech for good

Health charities use tech for good to enhance access to services

The pandemic has brought into focus just how important tech for good is at supporting not only charities but their beneficiaries. Tech for good efforts by charities have helped bring patients and doctors closer together, and we expect, that post-pandemic, these relationships will continue to align.

Aiming to help young arthritis sufferers, Versus Arthritis launched a mobile phone app to support young people between the ages of 13-25. The charity’s app helps users keep track of their symptoms like an electronic diary. For healthcare professionals unable to attend patients who are self-isolating, tracking symptoms is important to prescribing the right care.

“It has huge potential to enhance communication between young people and health professionals, allowing us to better understand the impact arthritis is having on the young person’s life and then to treat them more effectively. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the app has even greater potential. It can be difficult to assess young people on the phone so using their app summaries as a prompt or by sharing on email beforehand, it will really help these phone consultations,” said Dr Janet McDonagh, a paediatric and adolescent rheumatologist at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

Charities are laying the groundwork for future relationships post-COVID-19

New tech for good partnerships have formed between healthcare workers, charities, and private tech developers. Looking ahead, we can expect to see more digital collaborations between charities and other service providers.

During the past few months, the Hospify mobile phone app has been expanding its service base to NHS charities, trusts, and healthcare professionals. Tackling the problem of confidentiality and security, Hospify developed a secure-message aggregator for messages coming in from sources like WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram and Messenger, which are often not company or charity approved. By securing messages from other sources, the app allows doctors, nurses, patients, pharmacists, dentists, and patients to connect in online groups and share information (including pictures) without jeopardising confidentiality. The app is now servicing over 150 hospitals and has been vetted by the NHS as one of its approved apps.

Charity hackathons push efforts to the forefront of tech-for-good

Coronavirus took the world by surprise, and researchers are still scrambling to find a cure. Funded by charities and partners NHS Digital, Open Data Institute Leeds and Beautiful Information, the #OpenDataSavesLives hackathon threw open the doors for anyone and everyone to participate in making sense of big data. Over 50 participants, including the British Red Cross, shared standardised, integrated information to get a broader picture of cities.

Paul Connell, founder of Open Data Institute Leeds said: “#OpenDataSavesLives can bring people together to respond to the situation we are all facing. We want to encourage and empower people to work ‘in the open’, talk about your work, ask for help, share your success on our open doc. We can then link up the incredible work being done, remove barriers and speed up the response.”

Looking ahead thematically, the sharing of big data has the potential to help charities unlock information barriers to solve big issues, including poverty, homelessness, and many others. By improving transparency and better information, tech for good efforts can address and help charities deliver their missions.