Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been on the hunt for ways to promote a strategy of prevention of diseases and other ailments. As such, the HHS has been looking for a mobile app that can help keep users informed about ways to take care of potential health problems before they escalate to requiring hospital stays. To that end, the HHS brought out what was called the Mobile App Challenge, and the winner is Lyfechannel's MyFamily mobile app.
Lyfechannel's MyFamily app uses current research to develop specific programs to prevent certain conditions. The developed programs can then be accessed via mobile device to allow users to manage an entire family's health – hence the name MyFamily – all from one mobile platform. The MyFamily app is currently available on iTunes for Apple devices running at least iOS 5.0, though an Android version is reportedly in the works for this June.
The iOS version, meanwhile, boasts a way to separate family members into specific slots, then contain a series of programs for that person based on individual health concerns. For instance, if Mom is 35 and not currently pregnant, she might be able to get in on programs like getting enough folic acid in her diet, or getting tested for cervical cancer. Dad might get a plan to lower his blood pressure or get tested for colon cancer. The app also provides more information on benefits and services offered under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as well as the ability to create specific health alerts and to keep track of checkups, vaccinations and similar matters.
Lyfechannel's app was one of 26 original submissions that went after the HHS slot, and was originally chosen as part of a pool of three finalists before winning the top prize: a one-year contract to maintain and operate the app, and a $50,000 cash prize. Of particular note was Lyfechannel's development process in creating the app.
Lyfechannel reportedly went to the parking lot of a dollar store in El Cerrito, Calif., and interviewed 200 different women who were between the ages of 25 and 40 about health care needs, and tools to help manage those needs. The results of those interviews went into the construction of the MyFamily app, as it was found there was no shortage of information, but a shortage of ways to manage all that information into a form that people could actually use.
It's a bit surprising that there were only 26 apps in this particular pool, but it's clear that a worthwhile app took the top slot. There's quite a bit being offered in MyFamily's purview, and while the remaining apps in the pool likely had value of their own to bring to the table, Lyfechannel's MyFamily certainly will make keeping healthy easier for a lot of people. Prevention is an excellent tool in terms of health care, as it allows users to stay out of complex medical care situations and instead keep focused on smaller, simpler methods over a long period of time to provide approximately the same results.
An ounce of prevention, as the saying goes, is indeed worth a pound of cure, especially because by the time a pound of cure might have been necessary, several pounds of prevention likely went into the whole mix. Lyfechannel's MyFamily allows users to keep as much out of an overburdened healthcare system as possible, and help make room for others in need.
Edited by
Alisen Downey
