Express yourself-an application tool for psychologists and patients

摘要

Technology and informatics become part of our daily life. Conversely, the on-line therapeutic work is a reality presenting new possibilities and challenges for the professionals. Hardware and software turned more sophisticated as well as the new technological solutions to surpass communication barriers. Several studies reveal that "computerized psychology" is a poorly investigated field, which makes it a very promising study area. This paper presents a work in progress project, which consists on the development of an application that will facilitate the interaction among psychologists and patients. The application has two goals. The first one will allow to a professional in the field of psychology, to obtain a preliminary analysis of the patient's condition, even before the face-to^face appointment. A registered patient may submit narratives in which he reports his situation, and the application will subsequently treat the text and will analyze it. Then, a graphical presentation focused, fundamentally, on user's five senses indicators (hearing, smell, touch, vision and taste) will be designed. Finally, the data analysis will be presented to the assigned psychologist. The second goal is to evaluate, automatically, the patient tests. Games and other activities will be reported as prescriptions. The presented application was designed based on the opinion of the psychologists interviewed. Since the communication process will be text and the patient will be free to send it, any time, to the psychologist, it is our conviction that patients will adhere to use it. A group of patients intervene in the practice tests conducted.