HEALTHCARE PROJECT
Shifting Healthcare Home
By Mehreen Masood
ABOUT
The Challenge.
Healthcare system of a country is one of the most crucial factors that define the success of a government. Pakistan only spends 2% of the GDP on its healthcare (Tribune). As a result, Pakistan’s health system is highly neglected and unhealthy and is a threat to the health of Pakistani people (Khan)
Problem Identification
01. Growing National Population
According to statistics, "only 50% of individuals in Pakistan have access to primary healthcare services" (Ltd.).
02. Poor quality of heathcare Facilities
Hospitals in Pakistan have poor hygiene and lack basic medical equipment such as X-ray machines, ventilators, and more.
03. Gap between healthcare & community
In Pakistan, the entire city depends on the same few hospitals, which sometimes also need to cater patients from nearby rural areas.
04. Poor state of home healthcare
Home Healthcare in Pakistan is very expensive for the average citizen. Home nurses are under-skilled and do not perform their duties well.
RESEARCH
Questionnaire
I conducted a small survey to get a better understanding of the public sentiment regarding healthcare in Pakistan. Based on the results, 64% of people showed low satisfaction with the healthcare system of Pakistan and they would prefer to receive treatment at home.
The data collected shows evidence that people in Pakistan are unhappy with the quality of healthcare facilities.
SYNTHESIS
Personas
The purpose of designing personas was to understand the target audience and their experience with Pakistan's healthcare system more closely.
For this project, I focused on two kinds of personas
- A healthy young individual
- An elderly citizen who has Parkinson's disease
SYNTHESIS
Empathy Map
For the second persona of Razia Begum, I decided to make an empathy map to study her feelings, thoughts, actions, and surroundings and reveal more in-depth insights about her needs.
SYNTHESIS
Storyboarding
For the first persona of Huda Ahsan, I took the storyboarding approach to visually predict and explore her experience with Pakistan's healthcare system.
DESIGN
Brainstorming
Once I had a good understanding of the problem and its audience, I started brainstorming the solution and writing down ideas that popped in my mind. This activity's goal was to let my imagination flow and come up with as many solutions as possible.
PROPOSED SOLUTION
Conceptual Design
Shift healthcare to a community level using Machine Learning
The idea here is to solve the healthcare problem at a human (community) level, with each community having its own hospital and multidisciplinary medical team. Each resident would be connected to a general physician who would receive regular health updates about the resident. All community residents would be connected to each other. In case of an emergency, 3 nearest people would be identified using machine learning algorithms and notified for help.
Adopt a proactive approach towards healthcare through continuous Health Monitoring
Currently, the approach taken towards healthcare is mostly reactive. A patient experiences symptoms and consults a doctor, who then provides a diagnosis and treatment. The doctor is paid for his services. However, this could change in the future if the approach taken towards healthcare is shifted to a proactive one through internet of medical things.
The benefits of a proactive approach to healthcare would be reduced healthcare costs and better community health (DiRienzo). Smart devices would continuously monitor a person's health status, such as his blood pressure, heart rate, glucose level, hydration level, dental health, mental health, and more.
Remote patient monitoring using Internet of Medical Things
The data collected from the smart devices would be forwarded to the general physician assigned to each resident. The physician would get in touch with the person in case of any severe health conditions. Health status would be predicted using machine learning and shared with the doctors. Furthermore, If a person feels sick, they could remotely consult their doctor.
Personalized care for critically ill or disabled patients
People who cannot look after themselves and require special care will be provided with personalized nursing robots. These robots and their algorithms will be customized based on the treatment and care plan advised by the patient's doctor. The robots would provide physical assistance to the patient, such as providing medicines, helping the patient get dressed, and more. The robots would also be able to carry the person to the desired destination.
To ensure the robots' safety, they would be designed to be stable while performing their tasks.
They would be able to sense obstacles and prevent themselves from colliding with them. Their speed of performing tasks would be personalized based on the job they are performing. Sensors would be used for fall detection, notifying nearby people for help.
Conclusion & Future Work
Meet the Team
Mehreen Masood
Senior Student, LUMS
