Thematic Area: Health & Hygiene
Project Guide(s): Mr. Sruthy U. Krishnana, Center for Wireless Networks & Applications
International Partner(s): Lancelot Dupont, Grenoble INP, France
Amrita Partner(s): Karra Venkata Lakshmi Sri, Vasanth Sathyanarayanan, Prithvi C. H., Sooraj Suseel Kumar, and Ashwin Krithik M.
Village: Harirampur, Rajasthan
Project Duration: One month
Identified Challenge & Aim: Access to healthcare is still a major challenge for residents of rural communities. One particularly vulnerable group are farmers who have to engage in manual labor for long hours leading to serious health implications. However, with a lack of sufficient transportation facilities, transportation infrastructure, and sheer distance to healthcare centers rural patients are unable to connect with doctors and receive required treatment. The current project seeks to study the scope, usability, and receptiveness of a wearable wireless monitoring system.
The Study/Innovation: The team interacted with farmers via a few group discussions to understand some of the current health challenges they face and their major pain points. The team then conducted interviews to learn about current perceptions and concerns regarding access to healthcare. Subsequently, the team visited a primary healthcare center and the regional agricultural department to understand current practices of healthcare monitoring and current government schemes to reduce physical burden on farmers, respectively. Based on data collected from the field,students identified there was scope for a wireless wearable device and proposed strategies to increase the acceptability of the devices among the farming community in Harirampur.
