By My Side, an app that offers support to drug-dependent women

Toni Codina on 27 June 2023

Application that offers support, advice and resources to women who consume drugs to facilitate access to information and proper decision making to improve their health and well-being.

In order to address the misinformation and harms of drug use among women, which often leads to death, and in conjunction with technology consultancy AND Digital, who have volunteered their digital knowledge and expertise, Simon Community Scotland (SCS) has created By My Side. This app provides evidence-based harm reduction advice that is easily accessible to people who use the charity’s services.

It is designed by women for women. While primarily focused on advice on preventing drug-related harm, the app also has wider resources, such as guidance and guidelines on issues and mental health management and support for people affected by domestic or sexual violence. Thus, the app allows the most relevant advice and resources to be accessible and available to women without ever having to approach a service if they do not want it. The By My Side app enables them to access high quality information and make informed decisions about their health, wellbeing and safety.

Characteristics of innovation

Publications, Addictions, Bank of innovations, Information and planning, Mental health, New technological tool, Prediction and prevention, User empowerment, Woman

Localization

Scotland

Partners / Funders

Simon Community Scotland, AND Digital

Genesis

Mortality in women due to drug use is a figure that does not go unnoticed and needs to be addressed. The causes of this fact involve the interconnection of many factors. For many women, drug use is rooted in traumatic experiences. Simon Community Scotland detected, from conversations with the women they support, a gap in knowledge of the harms they cause. Beyond the stigma they suffer, many of the women did not know how to manage injuries and ensure the safety of injections and doses. They diagnosed that this type of information is generally aimed at professionals and is distanced from the needs of the people for whom it would actually be useful. To address this, they launched the By My Side app in 2022.

Level of implementation

The application has been launched, for the time being, in Simon Community Scotland’s women’s residential services. It is envisaged, however, that it will be rolled out across the organization and also to external partners. The ultimate aim is for it to become a digital resource that supports key workers and all the people they support in the field of alcohol and other drug addictions.

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iCalidad, a technological tool for the quality of life of people with ASD

Toni Codina on 9 May 2023

Assessment and support tool to improve the quality of life of people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families. With an innovative methodology, the aspects that most affect the quality of life of a person are assessed and individualised support plans are designed, adapted to the needs, interests and expectations.

iCalidad is, therefore, a collaborative technological tool that corresponds to a system for assessing the quality of life of people with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It was born out of the realisation that the assessment of this disorder is subjective and that the assessment instruments are often not adapted to the reality of the people who suffer from it, as pointed out by the advances in knowledge that show that ASD manifests itself in a very specific way in each case.

It is flexible and works in such a way that the perspective of the person with ASD is integrated into the design of their own plan, as are the families and professionals who know them best. These people constitute the evaluation team and respond individually to a questionnaire formulated by iCalidad. The technological tool systematises and compares, and also generates a quality report that integrates the responses of all the team members. It is the team that is responsible for evaluating it together with the aim of designing –by consensus– a personalised and optimal support plan.

Thus, iCalidad enables people with ASD to participate in making decisions about their lives and to achieve meaningful personal goals. It also enables families and professionals to collaborate and offer appropriate support to the person with the disorder. Finally, iQuality enables organisations to provide quality support and to respond –appropriately and innovatively– to the priorities, interests and needs of people with ASD.