TrueHeart

Inspiration:

Our project, TrueHeart, draws inspiration from the urgent need to revolutionize the in-home care industry, particularly for elderly individuals. We identified significant challenges in the current system, where the connection between patients and caregivers is typically established manually. Often, elderly individuals (or their relatives) must contact a "call center" to arrange for a caregiver. Our objective was to harness technology to create a solution that empowers both patients and caregivers, offering a seamless and efficient method for receiving and providing care.

What it does:

TrueHeart is an innovative platform that reimagines in-home care by connecting patients in need of at-home care with qualified caregivers dedicated to improving the lives of seniors. Both caregivers and patients, or their relatives, can register on our app. Patients can specify their treatment needs and location, while caregivers are required to provide additional qualification details. Our matching algorithm then attempts to pair caregivers with patients based on treatment requirements and geographical proximity. Here are the functionalities we have implemented:

Receive three caregiver suggestions tailored to your patient profile.
Discover the next available visit hours for a caregiver.
Request a visit at a specific time as a patient.
Approve or reschedule a visit request.
Reschedule previously approved visits.
After rescheduling, the other party must confirm the visit again.
During a visit, caregivers can define and mark tasks as completed. This feature is primarily for the benefit of the patient's relatives, helping them stay informed about their loved ones' care.
Receive notifications for the following events:
- Receiving a visit request
- Rescheduling of a visit
- Acceptance of a visit request

We have also created a landing page for our application's website:

https://trueheart.ralf-boltshauser.com/

Watch our demo here.

How we built it:

TrueHeart was developed using the versatile Flutter framework, enabling us to create a cross-platform application accessible on both Android and iOS devices. For the backend, we opted for Firebase, a trusted and robust platform handling data storage and authentication. We chose Firebase mainly for its rapid setup, allowing us to focus more on frontend development. We also implemented custom cloud functions in Firebase, triggering notifications through cloud messaging whenever a visit is created or modified. Additionally, the website was built using Next.js. We also produced short advertisement videos, which were simulated and rendered in Blender.

Challenges we encountered:

During the development of TrueHeart, we faced several challenges, including the need to maintain a consistent theme and user experience across different platforms. Integrating advanced scheduling features to accommodate the preferences of both patients and caregivers was a complex task. The two most daunting challenges were:

Implementing two distinct roles (patient and caregiver) within a single application, each with unique needs and preferences.
Ensuring reliable notifications through cloud messaging.

What we learned:

Our journey with TrueHeart has been a profound learning experience. We gained a deep appreciation for the capabilities of the Flutter framework in providing a consistent and user-friendly interface across diverse platforms. We also recognized the critical importance of real-time updates in caregiving applications to enhance communication and coordination between patients, caregivers, and families. Balancing design and functionality taught us the importance of ensuring that our app not only looks great but also functions seamlessly. Additionally, we learned that Firebase can serve as an excellent backend when there's limited business logic, offering convenience, speed, and reliability. Firebase's cloud functions proved to be a powerful tool.

What's next for the project:

Numerous opportunities exist for further development. Some potential enhancements we envision include:

Implementing AI-driven insights to enhance the matching process between patients and caregivers.
Creating a user feed for relatives of patients, where they can view posts made by caregivers to stay updated about their loved ones.
Introducing more personalized interactions during the initial matching process, such as chat functionality or a standard procedure for getting to know each other.

We believe there is substantial potential in our app, especially considering demographic shifts and the increasing elderly population. As more people aspire to age at home, a more efficient care-finding system like ours can help control costs, making at-home care affordable for a broader range of individuals.