By In hopes of providing more support to Carroll College Students, the college launched a new Telehealth platform, but how effective is it really?
I went “undercover” to test this new platform to give students unbiased and real results not for the sake of advertising.
The first step was finding the platform. My first thought was to search for the word “Telehealth” in my email. Under my weekly email of the Saints Scoop, it said “Medical Telehealth is HERE!!! Students can connect with licensed medical providers 24/7, confidentially and free of charge, via the UWill platform.” However, it did not give any links to the UWill platform.
My next thought was to check the school website and search UWill but I didn’t find any information. With a lack of results, I then returned back to my email and searched “UWill.” Here I found the information I was looking for. My first thought on this is that there should be an easier way to access this information. If I was truly in need and it was this difficult to figure this out, I might have given up.
The information that I did find provided an option to sign up through a linked website, or to register via a QR code with your phone. Since I am trying to mimic a student doing this, I opted to use my phone.
After I scanned the QR code and the page loaded, I started my stopwatch. Overall, it took me 6 minutes and 40 seconds to register and set up my account.
I was first asked to choose to register or log in, and because I am a first-time user, I chose to register. The UWill page then asked me to choose “I am looking for support” or “I provide mental health support.”
I picked the first option.
I was then taken to fill out basic information such as your name, birth date, phone number, and school email, and then to set a password.
Next, I was brought to a Terms and Conditions use page. I did end up scanning this even though research shows that most people do not read these.
I will note that the terms and conditions did make it a point that this platform is not for emergencies, and if you are experiencing one, you should call 911. It also mentioned if you are thinking about suicide or harm to yourself or others, you must immediately call 911.
After agreeing to these terms, I was asked to complete your profile with information like your address, city, state, zip code, pronouns, and ethnicity. When asked for my reason(s) to be using UWill, I selected ones that other college students may feel such as anxiety, depression, or stress. Lastly, for the registration process, I was asked to activate my account through the email address I provided. After this went through, I was at the Uwill Dashboard.
Overall registration was not complicated to do. I expected less than 7 minutes to complete it, but because this is not a source for emergencies. I think the wait was not terrible.
On your dashboard, you are given the option to schedule a consultation. Under it says “Urgent care” where you are given the option to call or video/facetime. Under that, you have listed the benefits of talking to a doctor, messaging a doctor, and medical records. To save these professionals their time, I did not select to schedule a consultation or to talk to someone. However, I still believe that I got a sense of the platform to give an honest review.
I think that the way Carroll students can access this platform should be made easier.
It took me a couple of minutes to find a link or QR code that would take me where I needed to go. But that was also for someone who knew what they were looking for. If I was not aware of the names of the platform and was looking for this type of help, it would have been longer and more difficult.
The registration process was not terrible. The wait time was longer than I expected, but was not a tedious process and the questions that were asked should be known to all college students.
Overall, I think that the UWill platform is another resource that students can take advantage of to better their health. This program is meant for medical urgent care such as sore throat, flu, and physical illness type things. Things students would have seen the Wellness Center nurse for in the past.
How well this program works may be dependent on the type of illness a patient has.
Once again I would like to reiterate that this is not a useful source for medical emergencies, and the best help is to call 911. However, if you are not in an emergency and are looking for help signing up is an easy process.
Here is the link to the UWill platform so it is easier to find and register: https://app.uwill.com/register.
