[BabyCare: decision support system for primary child care using personal digital assistant].
The purpose of this work was to develop a digital device - referred as BabyCare System - for the collection, storage, and decision support for healthcare professionals and other concerned people, in order to assist patients in primary child care in deprived communities. This system is based on handheld device technologies to be used locally in basic healthcare units in deprived communities, whether assisted or not by the Family Health Program/Strategy (PSF), as well as in ambulatory facilities and hospitals. Java was used as programming language. Evaluations have been conducted regarding 62 users at São Paulo city including volunteers from the Pastoral da Criança, an ecumenical institution for children. The applied questionnaires resulted in a high level of general acceptance (98.3%); the on-site training was considered as appropriate (91.9%); a perception of routine improvement and decrease in the time of consultation (100.0%), and a decrease in the volume of paperwork (96.7%). The prototype has proven to be robust and effective for the use in deprived communities with precarious computer and telecommunication infrastructure.
Departamento de Informática em Saúde, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP. carmenlbc@yahoo.com
Carmen Lúcia de Bartolo
CL
Costa
Vladimir Camelo
VC
Pinto
Orlando Lima
OL
Cardoso
Marcelo Massakazu
MM
Baba
Ivan Torres
IT
Pisa
Domingos
D
Palma
Daniel
D
Sigulem
D002648:Child; D034201:Computers, Handheld; D020000:Decision Support Systems, Clinical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods*