Kol Dokta

Streamlining the delivery of affordable healthcare via an interactive voice response based system in Sierra Leone.

This research was conducted while I was working as the Research and Developer lead at iDT Labs. For further information about this project please email info@idtlabs.xyz

Background

Sierra Leone has one of the poorest healthcare systems in the world, as highlighted by the following facts:

However, efforts for improving healthcare have not resulted in a long-term, permanent improvement, with the general global efforts in the field primarily focused towards “disease specific funding”.

Instead, investments need to be made in improving the healthcare infrastructure and in streamlining the delivery of healthcare in the country.

A Possible Solution

Sierra Leone has a mobile penetration rate of 44%. One possible solution for improving access to healthcare is of introducing a nation-wide mobile based healthcare intervention system.

The Value Proposition

Streamlining affordable and quality medical services for the common Sierra Leonean via a mobile based healthcare platform.

The Human Centered Design Approach Undertaken

Interviews were conducted with common people and medical care practitioners in Freetown to better understand their challenges and the feasiblity of a mobile based healthcare intervention system.

The design research aimed to find insights on the following thematic areas.

Key Insights From The Design Research

Output From The Design Research

Based on the results from the design research, the following two tools were constructed:

• The Evidence Planning Toolkit. Highlighting the replacements, enhancements and potential hazards of the mobile based healthcare delivery platform.

• The Business Model Canvas - Charting out the various facets of the business model for Kol Dokta.

Distribution Channels

The following is how the distribution channels of Kol Dokta were envisioned.

The Next Steps

A working prototype for Kol Dokta was developed on the Asterisk open source communication framework. The prototype was initially available in Krio, which is the most popular regional language in Sierra Leone for running the pilot of the project in Freetown over a period of six months in 2015.