The Faculty of Health Science at the North-West University (NWU) officially launched the Sinapi Language Application during the university’s annual Language Awareness Week on the Potchefstroom Campus on 29 August.

In a collaborative effort, through a service agreement between the NWU and Ambani Africa, this revolutionary language application aims to address the linguistic gap between faculty students and patients during their compulsory work-based learning.

Since students interact directly with patients, the launch of the Sinapi Language Application will enhance communication and drive positive patient outcomes.

Prof Sandra van Dyk from the School of Pharmacy explains the benefits of the application.

“Communication with patients is key in understanding a healthcare problem. The Sinapi App will enable students to better communicate with patients speaking a different language by allowing them to quickly search for a term or concept to be translated into one of the five languages: English, Afrikaans, Setswana, Sesotho and isiZulu. The app will also enable students to be more aware of language and cultural differences and to be sensitive as to how to address them,” she says.

Application to deliver health care needs / How it all started

The development of the Sinapi App began in 2023.

The NWU and Ambani Africa identified the need for an application to aid students to communicate with patients speaking a different language, especially when students are placed in deep rural areas for their work-based training.

For the past two years the faculty has been distributing language cards during the NWU’s annual Language Awareness Weeks. These cards included a pictogram of a medically related term or concept in English, Afrikaans and Setswana, and a QR code. Once the code is scanned you will be able to hear the concept or term pronounced in one of the languages available.

The application was initially created with the four official languages of the NWU namely, English, Afrikaans, Setswana and Sesotho, and isiZulu was later added for additional inclusivity. In addition to allowing students to quickly search for and have a medical concept or term  translated into one of the five languages, the app can also be used to interview a patient and to download a report of the interview.

Through the innovative use of augmented reality, the application is currently bridging the linguistic gap particularly in the context of HIV/AIDs terminology and assessments.

For now, the application is currently only available to registered students and staff members of the Faculty of Health Sciences but will eventually be made available to the broader NWU community in due course. 

Prof Sandra van Dyk explains the benefits of the Sinapi Application during the launch.

From the left are Lehlogonolo Mamogobo, Cailyn Fernandes, Wianko Woest and Reratilwe Dikgale. They used HIV Prep as a case study to demonstrate how the application works for effective communication between students and patients during their work-based learning.

 The interface of the Sinapi Language Application