Connect for Life is a program that supports removing barriers between health workers and patients. The project provides access to real-time feedback from a patient directly to healthcare. The program works on mobile devices and information is transmitted by SMS connection. By basic mobile phones, healthcare providers can send messages and make life-saving connections with patients. The system can work in the most remote areas with limited connections.
How does the program work?
At first, the patient has to register in a clinic. The clinic management system is connected with Connect for Life’s server, so there’s automatic information about it. Thanks to connected systems, the patient gets medication and appointment reminders, doctor’s advice, health tips straight on a mobile phone. The patient can give feedback answering on these pieces of information. It goes through Connect for Life to the clinic as alerts where health workers take appropriate action. Information from the patient is saved in the patients’ dashboard for further visits and treatment. Doctors also could check their progress in treatment, new symptoms and overall feeling. Then all the data goes to measurement, evaluation and research desk when information is analysed from the single patient and the whole area.
The program uses basic mobile phones to send simple, short messages. Messages are actionable and their goal is to influence proper behaviour through health tips, alerts and medicine reminders. It’s really important to have constant contact with the patient who often could fall in stigma or lose interest in continuing treatment. Connect for Live remove such situations and minimalize a risk that the patient stops taking medicines. It allows keeping in touch with patients anytime and anywhere.
Patient and Provider Challenges
Even the best patient could face stigma or social-cultural pressures. If the patient lives in remote areas far away from the healthcare clinic, it’s a higher chance of losing treatment. So in that time, it’s even more important to contact them very often uninterrupted. At infographics, we show which challenges patients and healthcare workers have to face.
Connect for Live’s impact
The program works in India, Uganda and the Philippines and realizes there quite similar tasks. Everywhere it has the main goal to support healthcare providers in their connections with the patient to make sure that they take medicines and haven’t lost the treatment.
In India, the goal of Connect for Life is to prevent mother to child transmission of HIV and improve Maternity and Child health in communities in India. AIDS is still a very dangerous and incurable disease, and many people disrespect others because of HIV. It’s very important to inform, educate and provide medicines for everybody with HIV. Because only that people won’t infect others again and safe lives.
Meanwhile, in Uganda, the main task is to use effective interventions to drive humans behaviour change and improve literacy to improve disease prevention and health care services for people living with HIV. Patients get messages with information on when they should take medicines, reminders with appointments and tips about how to eat properly to minimize the effects of the disease. With Connect for Life, healthcare providers are sure that their patients follow the instructions and as long as they take pills, they’re safe.
In the Philippines, it’s also important to educate people about HIV prevention and treatment. There is even more important to understand why people don’t want to take medicines and treat themself. So healthcare providers with support from Connect for Life are trying to change the situation and make treatment for HIV available for everyone.
Partnership
Successful partnership with local governments, organizations and healthcare providers is important for the success of the project. Closely collaboration between organizations guarantees services on a high level and impact on a bigger scale. Using technology and making more and more partnerships Connect for Live works in more and more regions. Starting with Uganda, India and the Philippines, the program will be in more areas very soon. Read the most common questions to learn more.
If you want to collaborate, partnership or take part in the project contact the Connect for live’s team: [email protected]. You can also ask for a demo of Connect for Live program to see how it works, looks like and if your team would like it. It’s a very easy and friendly tool that improve your worldwide impact.
