The Autism Society Philippines (SAP) and SAP have announced that they formed a partnership to launch a pilot project in the Philippines to improve the quality of care provided to people with autism spectrum disorder.
According to Mona Magno-Veluz, ASP president, this is a good step to help better the plight of those affected by autism in the Philippines. “We want to build an autism okay Philippines,” Magno-Veluz said. “(And this is) a good step in that direction.”
Care Circles, an SAP service for tablets and smartphones, is a Facebook-like social network that will allow people who look after people with autism, from the families, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists and developmental pediatricians, among others. Specifically, Care Circles helps patients and their families connect with advocacy and healthcare programs and providers, which provide best practices in self-care and caregiving. This service helps enable communities and empower families to care for each other.
Specifically, Care Circles can help people learn about a family member’s condition, share knowledge, and track daily progress. Care Circles also provides a platform to publish best practices. In addition, Care Circles lets people collaborate through a private journal to take preventative action and track daily progress.
“Tens of millions of people in Asia live with autism, and they are typically supported by a circle of caregivers. Care Circles can help these caregivers improve the lives of those living with autism through best practices and collaboration,” said Andy David, SAP’s director for healthcare in the Asia Pacific. “Social networks can provide great support to people who have unique interests or feel stigmatized, and so we believe Care Circles, as a private social network for healthcare, can help improve lives. It brings the benefits of social networks to healthcare.”
This development marks the first time that Care Circles moves out of the US, where it was launched and is now offered in two languages (English and German). Through the pilot in the Philippines, the ASP is looking at sharing Philippine-specific resources, expert content and family-centric insights on autism.
The ASP hopes that with Care Circles, it can crowd source answers to questions on prevalence, incidence and impact of autism on the Philippine population.
According to Mona Magno-Veluz, ASP president, this is a good step to help better the plight of those affected by autism in the Philippines. “We want to build an autism okay Philippines,” Magno-Veluz said. “(And this is) a good step in that direction.”
Established in 1989, the ASP is a non-profit organization dedicated to the well-being of persons with autism spectrum disorder. The organization is comprised of families, teachers, therapists, institutions and other individuals whose lives have been touched by autism. It now has 10,000 members, with 71 chapters all over the country.
SAP is considered a leader in enterprise application software development, working from back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, and desktop to mobile device, among others. It currently has applications and services for over 238,000 customers.
Care Circles is currently available for iPhone and iPad from the App Store.
