Working for a software development company is exciting in many ways. It challenges my intellect and brings me together with an interesting group of people, people who like to solve puzzles for a living. What has been great for me about working for MEMOTEXT in particular is not only the intellectual challenges and colleagues I get to work with but the fact that I’m doing something that has a positive impact. The code I write and the apps I help build will help someone out there in my community and beyond, people like me.

I strongly resonate with this sentiment when it comes to our flagship product – A4i (App 4 Independence). A4i is software as a medical device (SaMD) that is meant to be part of clinical care for those with schizophrenia and psychosis. Why does working on A4i as a software engineer fill me with such pride? Because I have lived with the diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, and have experienced first hand the challenging plight of the A4i target community. I first heard of the A4i app idea while I was well into my recovery at CAMH and thought how useful this app would have been for me when I had been struggling to regain control of my life. We have tools to do so many things in our work and personal lives, tools to remind us of meetings, tasks, deadlines, and personal or physical health goals. Why not have tools that help people with mental illness take control of their own recovery journey? As a software developer, I was motivated by this idea so I reached out to the company CAMH had partnered with to develop A4i (MEMOTEXT) to apply for a job and was eventually hired.

The most prominent feature of the A4i app is the hallucination detector. It is simple yet clever – using the microphone on your mobile device you are presented with a sine wave that fluctuates proportionally with sounds in the external environment. The sensitivity of the detector is adjustable to better determine if the sound is coming from the environment or if it may be a hallucination. There are many other features that the app provides that deserve a spotlight as well. You can set appointments, medication and event reminders – things that can be challenging when actively sick. You can track your achievements, medication compliance, and set goals. There is a section of the app called ‘JoyKit’ (one of my personal favourites) where you can curate a list of images, videos, and text that bring you joy and help you feel better while on the road to recovery. There is even a section enabling you to write notes for your care team so that you don’t forget what you want to discuss in your next appointment. These features make for more efficient and productive meetings with your care team. In a nutshell, actively engaging in the recovery process is one of the most important features of meeting your recovery goals. A4i gives people the opportunity to be an active participant in their own recovery, something that is essential for long term sustained wellness.

So much progress has been made but even in Canada we still live in a time where those who experience psychosis are often seen as lost causes, people to be talked down to, people to be dismissed. It is important to fight for the mentally ill, but it is equally, or perhaps even more important, to help the mentally ill fight for themselves. A4i does just that.