Totem - 2025 Canva x COMMSTEM Hackathon

Totem is a mobile health app co-designed with Aboriginal perspectives to address the urgent challenge of medication non-adherence among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

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Totem – Culturally Safe Medication Support App

What Inspired Us In nature, survival depends on reminders. Birds signal sunrise. Tides mark the moon. Ants nudge each other to move. Trees share strength with the weak. These gentle cues keep ecosystems in balance. Inspired by these rhythms, we created Totem — a culturally safe medication reminder app

We recognized the urgent challenge of medication non-adherence among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Too often, health solutions are designed from a Western lens and fail to respect cultural worldviews.

By listening to community perspectives and learning from biomimicry in nature, we asked:
“How might we reframe medicine not as foreign tablets, but as part of the cycles of Country, mob, and life itself?”

This vision of blending cultural identity, storytelling, and nature became the seed for Totem.

**What We Learned

  • Cultural Context Matters: adherence is not just a medical problem — it’s tied to history, trust, and respect.
  • Nature as a Bridge: Aboriginal knowledge systems use cycles, kinship, and totems.
  • Health Literacy Gaps: with 150+ Aboriginal languages, visual and storytelling approaches are critical.
  • Collective Care is Key: in community, health is everyone’s business — accountability flows through mob, not just the individual.

**How We Built Our Project

  • Design Principles: co-designed around Aboriginal cultural safety, using totems, cycles, and collective care.
  • Technology Stack:
    • Swift iOS frontend (cultural symbols, audio-visual storytelling).
    • Firebase Firestore backend (secure data storage, real-time updates).
  • Mapping Medicines: each medication links to a natural element or totem animal.
  • Cycle Reminders: doses aligned with sunrise 🌅, midday 🌞, sunset 🌄, and night 🌙.
  • User Flow: taking medicine strengthens totems → family sees supportive signals → health becomes a shared story.

Challenges We Faced

  • Balancing Worlds: bridging Western biomedical routines with Aboriginal worldviews respectfully.
  • Cultural Safety: avoiding stereotypes while ensuring authentic perspectives.
  • Technical Setup: configuring Firestore securely and handling access control.
  • Time & Scope: prioritising key features over advanced extras.
  • Language & Storytelling: crafting simple, resonant metaphors to explain complex medicines.

Closing Reflection Totem taught us that health technology must be more than functional — it must be cultural, respectful, and meaningful.

By looking to nature and Aboriginal knowledge systems, we found a way to transform medication adherence from a routine into a ritual of strength, connection, and care for self, mob, and Country.

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