The need to communicate directly with health consumers
The challenge posed by COVID-19
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has magnified the existing gaps in health systems around the world. Low- and middle-income countries have been disproportionately affected, owing to under-resourced health facilities. Reducing and mitigating the impact of these challenges requires a holistic approach that takes into account the complexity of health systems, functioning at multiple, interconnected levels with a range of stakeholders.
In a crisis like COVID-19, patients and decision-makers need timely data about the spread of the disease, and communities need easy access to information that they can trust. In this year, more than any other in the past, consumers are taking charge of their health. They are learning about their health risks, communicating with their doctors in new and different ways, and changing their attitudes about adopting preventive health practices. Each of these factors has a significant influence on how consumers are accessing and interacting with their health systems.
Data from 2019, presented by the World Bank, shows that people in low- and middle-income countries spend half a trillion US dollars annually (over $80 per person) on out-of-pocket expenditures. There is a pressing need to strengthen these health systems to respond to and address acute challenges like COVID-19, and long-term issues like chronic diseases.
Digital technology adoption has already gained prominence in India’s healthcare industry, and we explored the subject in a previous blog. These tools have the potential to address unmet healthcare needs while bypassing traditional intermediaries like physicians, payers, or the pharmaceutical industry. Now, patients have direct access to health information in their language, on platforms that they use.
The health consumer of the future — Are there collaborations or collisions ahead?
Today’s consumers are more perceptive and discerning. They have higher expectations, and typically, expect to have agency in making critical decisions, get help when required, and be able to ultimately conceive, coordinate and create their own consumer experience. This means they are looking to do their own research before speaking to a professional, which is why having credible and reliable information available at their fingertips is paramount.
Like other industries that empower consumers with accessible information and services, direct-to-consumer digital health has already begun to transform health care. With consumers across all age groups now more willing to adopt tools, share data, and switch to virtual visits, digital tools can be a gamechanger in the future of care.
At-home tests, mobile devices, and related technologies have paved the way for easier, faster, and more accurate diagnoses. There is an abundance of tools built along a continuum of wellness and preventive health strategies, ranging from monitoring a person’s health, nudging them to make healthier lifestyle choices, helping them access more convenient care, giving caregivers peace of mind, identifying future risk of illness, and helping older adults remain in their homes instead of having to move to institutional care.
As the industry of direct-to-consumer digital health moves from a somewhat amorphous, futuristic subject to one that has a specific intent, clear metrics, and achievable outcomes, we expect that the impact will be far more significant, supporting patients and decision-makers at every level.
How does this shift impact underserved health consumers?
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), health systems have three primary goals:
- To improve the health of populations
- To enhance responsiveness to the population’s health needs and expectations
- To ensure the financial burden of paying for health systems is fairly distributed
These goals should form the lens through which we evaluate a healthcare intervention or the performance of a health system in general. The evolving trends in the Indian healthcare sector tend to be centered around patient-focused care, value- vs volume-driven healthcare, a continuum of care, and increasing digital integration. Digital solutions have proven to be excellent tools to address systemic challenges, particularly by enabling communication within and between various parts of the healthcare value chain. The good news is that they are finally becoming a part of the clinical workflow and not something that stands in its way.
Low- and middle-income countries like India, often lack adequate health facilities, and may be ill-equipped with healthcare supplies, and trained healthcare workers. Unfortunately, the health systems in these countries are already struggling with a double burden of infectious diseases and the rising incidence of non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and hypertension.
In India, there is a concerted, government-led push to get health care providers to embrace digital technology. With the availability of telecom bandwidth, healthcare is able to reach underserved rural markets through telemedicine and tele-consulting programs, delivered over mobile phones. Community health workers and other existing agent networks play a major role in digital health adoption in low-resource settings, providing a vital link between health systems and the communities they serve.
Providing health information directly to health consumers can improve knowledge and behavioral outcomes
Ultimately, the foundation and focal point of all these new technologies and solutions, are the people — the patients. A direct line of communication has the potential to leave a profound impact on often vulnerable individuals who are at the greatest risk of being driven to poverty by health concerns.
Our work with parents from underserved communities to improve children’s health and nutrition outcomes:
In 2019, we loaded behavior change content on a digital platform to address themes of vital importance during early childhoods — health, nutrition, development, and early learning. Our goal was to impactfully engage parents of young children in India and nudge them to positively change their behaviors. Along the way, the mobile data ecosystem and user behaviors evolved at a frantic pace, pushing our product and content teams to continually iterate to meet the needs of our parents.
The outcome: Our digital platform empowered over 54,000 families to improve their knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported behaviors around health, nutrition, and early learning indicators. Over 80 percent of families reported making positive changes to their child’s diet, and 70 percent reported an increase in their child’s intake of protein-rich foods. The digital user data we gathered also provided an excellent opportunity to explore the use of emerging technologies in order to continually enhance the impact of our intervention.
We developed a targeted messaging strategy to help disseminate COVID-19 prevention information to health workers in a train-the-trainer model
The COVID-19 pandemic in India had a devastating impact on low-income migrant workers, women in the informal sector, slum dwellers, and the elderly. Inaccessibility and unavailability of health workers resulted in a lack of awareness of health practices to avoid contracting COVID-19.
We developed a targeted messaging strategy that included short animation videos in regional languages, focusing on visual communication and simplified calls to action in every message to simplify the learning process and provide easy-to-follow instructions.
The video messages, infographics, and auxiliary messages reached over 12 million people across 21 states in India. The content was used to train the trainers to help empower local community workers to plug the gap in last-mile healthcare delivery.
We devised unique social media strategies to engage urban and peri-urban mothers in positive nutrition conversations
By focusing on the millennial parent community, their needs and wants, and by creating aspirational content, we were able to nudge positive conversations around children’s health, nutrition, and food habits.
We focused on demystifying nutrition by simplifying the complex, and giving parents simple tips they could put into practice with ease. Easy gamification tools like quiz questions and polls created a fun, effective learning environment.
While digital health is not a universal remedy to the world’s healthcare challenges, it does play a significant role in allowing patients to empower themselves with their own care, from their own homes, while encouraging healthcare professionals to focus more on their needs. It also strengthens health systems, particularly in resource-constrained areas, mitigating challenges in healthcare service delivery, infrastructure, and supplies.
Empowered health consumers can reduce the burden on health workers, allowing them to focus their resources on those most in need of care and those who are most resistant to digitally-led interventions. This approach will be of greater importance to those without consistent access to care because of financial, social, cultural, or geographical barriers.
Saathealth is an AI-powered, chronic care digital health platform.
