CareFull

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  A teacher's dashboard on the CareFull web application.

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  A parent's dashboard on the CareFull mobile application.

[ Describe the problem your solution addresses? ]

With many schools returning to in-person instruction during the fall, parents and teachers nationwide are concerned about keeping their students safe in the midst of COVID-19. Elementary schools, especially, are likely to be virus hotspots due to a large number of people in a relatively small indoor space. Additionally, elementary school students themselves may not be reliable to report their own symptoms and understand the associated consequences. This creates a gap in communication, putting everyone in the school at risk. Therefore, the question becomes, “how can we effectively and frequently communicate to the school whether or not a child has symptoms?” For the most reliable updates, there needs to be streamlined communication between the student’s parent and the student’s teacher. This is what we tackle in our solution.

[ Why did you pick this solution and how does it address the problem? ]

CareFull helps both parents and teachers keep track of student health. For parents, CareFull is a mobile app that lets parents easily log their child’s symptoms and assures them that they are contributing to a safer school environment. If their child is displaying symptoms, it directs them to their nearest testing centers. It also records the child’s log history, so parents and teachers can view any past symptoms. For teachers, CareFull is a desktop app that allows instructors to view a list of their students and any potential health risks, and prepare the classroom accordingly. It is integrated with features to take attendance and send out alerts to parents if necessary. By doing so, CareFull bridges the communication gap between elementary school parents and teachers, allowing them both to work together to create a safe environment for students and themselves.

[ Some problems we faced and corresponding solutions: ]

PROBLEM: "How do we know that parents will tell the truth?" SOLUTION: We included a notice at the beginning of the log form, including information about how honest tracking is the user's social responsibility. By clicking "START", they agree to be honest. By having this up front, the parent can consciously give truthful information knowing that there are consequences for not doing so.

PROBLEM: On the web app, the attendance feature originally had a "Present" and "Absent" function. After receiving feedback, we realized that teachers probably want to save time and only mark the students who are absent. SOLUTION: Change the "Present"/"Absent" buttons to a single "Mark as Absent" button.

PROBLEM: When a log was updated, users were congratulated with "Completed!" typography with decorative stars. This could be seen as making the COVID-19 pandemic/tracking a lighthearted, non-serious issue. SOLUTION: We changed to a simpler design, using a check-mark to have a more formal positive connotation.

[ If we were to continue this project, we would: ]

• Incorporate student administrator access (the teacher --> student relationship changes to admin --> teacher).
• Make useful for other contagious health concerns, not just COVID-19.
• Implement a feature to reward students with high log streaks, incentivizing constant logging.
• Grow in accordance with HIPAA and other privacy guidelines to ensure trust and lawfulness.
• Implement push notifications for parents.
• Conduct interviews with parents and teachers and modify the apps accordingly.

Built With

• figma