Autism Society Philippines, SAP partner to improve autism care

The Autism Society Philippines and SAP recently announced a pilot project in the Philippines, which aims to improve the quality of care provided to those with autism. At the center of the pilot is Care Circles, an SAP service for tablets and smartphones similar to a private social network.

This project marks the first national pilot of Care Circles, the first in the Asia Pacific region, and the first outside the United States. Care Circles helps patients and their families connect with advocacy and healthcare programs and providers, which provide best practices in self-care and care giving. This service helps create healthier lives by enabling communities and empowering families to care for each other.

“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,” says Andy David, director for Healthcare in the Asia Pacific at SAP. “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,” he adds.

Through the pilot, the Autism Society Philippines will share Philippine- specific resources, expert content and family-centric insights on autism, which will be accessible to people using Care Circles. The Autism Society Philippines aims to complement their efforts in family- and communitybased rehabilitation with technologies that their network of families, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists and developmental pediatricians can use for the care of Filipinos with autism. The Autism Society Philippines is hopeful that with widespread adoption, the solution will help crowd- source answers to questions on the prevalence, incidence and impact of autism on the Philippine population.

“Autism is a lifetime condition. With Care Circles, the case management of individuals with autism will now be a social experience shared with his circle of ‘ guardian angels’ from childhood to their transition to adulthood,” says Erlinda Koe, chair emeritus of the Autism Society Philippines.

Care Circles helps 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. Care Circles is available for iPhone and iPad from the App Store.