Paper details
| Paper authors | Nassim Majidi |
| In panel on | Frugal innovations and technology: aiding self-reliance and resilience amongst crisis affected groups? |
| Paper presenter(s) will be presenting |
In-Person / |
Abstract
Ahead of the global pandemic, in 2019, a team of researchers, innovators and practitioners came together in Kenya to streamline the process of health care provision in refugee contexts. Kenya hosts an estimated population of 508,033 refugees spread across Dadaab, Kakuma/Kalobeyei and other urban centres, but due to the expansive nature of camps and settlements, many refugees are facing significant obstacles to accessing healthcare. The connection between displaced populations and healthcare providers remains a problem.
To address this problem through innovative solutions, Samuel Hall in collaboration with Techfugees Kenya and the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRC) supported the development of an e-health app/solution to bridge this gap through a Hackathon in 2019. The aim was to develop a tech-based solution to enable local health workers and community leaders to provide early health warnings and avert more serious health problems in Kakuma refugee camp. The Hackathon led to a winning team of local tech innovators in Kakuma, to be supported to develop an app-based solution. With their innovation, health workers and community leaders (many of whom either own or have access to a smartphone) are now able to report issues early on - potentially averting more serious health problems in the community. Reporting is based on a combination of text, video, voice and photo, with a two way communication channel enabling KRC to provide information to local health workers in a more systematic and timely fashion. Through GPS technology, the app tags the location, assigns a unique location ID and case ID to avoid the issue of local name changes and ensure follow-up.
This panel contribution will share the strengths of this approach and the lessons learned about co-designing tech solutions with practitioners and camp residents themselves. The panelists will conclude on the remaining challenges around health care access in refugee settings, including cost, language barriers, distance to health facilities, and resources, to identify further ways forward in reducing the gap between health care providers and their target populations.
Panelists:
Hervé Nicolle: Founder, Director & Resilience Pillar Lead, Samuel Hall
Jared Owuor: Regional Operations Officer, Samuel Hall
Philomena Mwangi: Co-Lead, Techfugees Kenya
