Equal Hearts (Gender Equality in Health-care)

Social initiative empowering rural women in developing countries to attain "GENDER EQUALITY"and "REDUCED INEQUALITIES" in chronic-disease management

1. 

Chronic diseases (CDs) affect women inequitably and more than most people think. 

although CDs affect as many women as men, CDs are under detected in women and there are often delays in referral, diagnosis and treatment compared to men.

NCDs have been the leading causes of death among women globally for at least the past three decades and are now responsible for two in every three deaths among women each year. This burden is expected to increase substantially in the coming decades, especially in Low-and-Middle income Countries.

Three enduring myths contribute to the neglect of NCDs in women:

First, the persistent view that health-related issues of importance to women are defined through their reproductive capacity.
Second, the misperception that NCDs, especially CVDs, primarily are diseases of men.
Thirdly, the myth that NCDs in women are an issue only in high-income countries and a result of lifestyle choices.

women with CDs living in developing countries, face specific challenges like Gender inequality, family responsibilities, social stigma and range of cultural and socioeconomic factors.

CDs in maternal women accounts for increased maternal deaths and infant deaths. e.g. 1-in-3 pregnancies are affected by high sugars

nearly 20 million women  in India are taking treatment  for heart disease and nearly 50% of Indian women are at risk of heart disease.

2.  

equal-hearts is a social initiative to reduce gender inequalities and reduce inequalities in chronic disease management for women in rural areas of developing countries.

equal-hearts  specifically targets the factors that make women more at risk of chronic disease by screening them for behavioral risk factors like  physical inactivity, diet patterns, salt intake, smoking etc.. and also screens them for metabolic risk factors (diabetes, blood-pressure, cholesterol etc..) to asses women on individual basis.

each women gets personalised risk assessment using total-risk approach with evidence-based guidelines. Doctor from partnering clinics visits the village to provide individualised interventions based on risk category and risk factors prevalent in each women. 

equal-hearts employs&trains two women in each village as equal-hearts health workers (EHW), who conducts screening  and have equal-hearts kit (BP monitor, Glucose machine, life-style counselling materials, 4G tablet with electronic-medical-records, tele-health) to monitor progress, and act as care-coordinators for continuity of care with partnering clinics. 

they facilitate community engagement by engaging women in regular activities, and weekly themes for specific risk factor interventions e.g. diet week, activity week etc.

EHWs will be supported by our clinical teams in decision making. 

3.

equal hearts:

reduces gender inequalities by increasing awareness in women about heart disease and eliminate myths.

reduces inequalities by providing quality accessible healthcare for rural women, and reduces maternal and infant deaths 

by empowering "women as change agents and gate keepers", women can not-only safeguard themselves, but-also  their family and communities, by preventing health-shock poverty vicious cycle and enable economic growth by preventing disabilities due to diseases.

• #1st of its kind purpose-built NCD screening program for women, based on WHO global frame-work for NCDs

• provides employment/lively-hood for rural women (10000 women by 2030) as health-workers

• our approach is to "prevent diseases by risk factor intervention and total-risk approach, which is more cost-effective compared to early-detection of diseases" (world-economic-forum).

• focusing on women especially in rural areas, we not only bring GENDER EQUALITY but also REDUCE INEQUALTIES in healthcare

• chronic disease screening for women of child-bearing age can reduce maternal and infant deaths.

equal-hearts program is like one kick, five goals. 

technology is quite integral to equal-hearts program. work flows for both behavioral and metabolic risk assessment were created  with purpose built electronic medical record system(EMR), with inbuilt analytics and artificial intelligence to build predictive and preventive care models and personalize the care for every individual.

equal-hearts health workers gets training on these work-flows. technology assist them to collect information and risk factor assessment in particular format aligned with sustainable development goals. EMR will have in-built tele-health facilities for care co-ordination.

collector of Karimnagar district (Telangana State) agreed to conduct pilot study on 1000 women probably starting next month. we plan to reach 5000 women in 3 months. an NGO with access to more than  5 million people for last few decades expressed their interest. 

first 12 months we want to screen 20,000 rural people and provide lively-hood for 200 rural women. we identified 100 villages with nearly 200,000 population. we have been engaging with local private/public organizations. 

equal-hearts health workers were identified in few villages,  training on screening protocols, process would start in august.

equal-hearts program has been designed with a specific goal of accessible quality healthcare for one million people by 2030, with "me-too approach"  to achieve healthcare targets as per sustainable development goals.

our vision over the next three to five years, is to impact 200K-300K people in 1000-1500 villages and provide lively-hood for 2000-3000 equal-hearts workers, and partner with 40-60 hospitals to provide further care.

equal-hearts screening program identifies at-risk people and initiate intervention at very early-phase to prevent, disability and deaths due to chronic diseases and the costs associated with the treatment

for any rural programs, it is imperative to partner with locally acceptable organisations and people to minimise resistance.

our solution is out-reach screening service. we train and provide job opportunity for two women from each village as equal-hearts health workers (EHWs), who are permanent residents in the village, and reach-out to women for risk-assessment and monitoring, making long-term relationship.

EHWs will maintain continuity of care, by co-ordinating with clinics through tele-health and work as health-facilitators.

 we are negotiating and partnering  with multiple stake-holders, NGO's and civic bodies, with greater roles in the villages, for better acceptance and retaining.

equal-hearts will start its pilot next month, targeting 1000  rural women.

EHWs in each village are responsible for screening, care co-ordination with regular follow-ups and monitoring progress, through electronic medical records and tele-health.

people, who got screened will be given individualised treatment plans either be medical or lifestyle/behavioural interventions. 

all these services will be provided to rural women as out-reach services in their village.

all the screened people will get connected to locally partnered clinics for continuity of care.

12 months, we expect to serve 10000 people. equal-hearts is primarily for women in rural areas who do-not have access to quality healthcare at affordable price. 

complete out-reach risk-assessment will be carried for each women, including behavioral and metabolic risk factors. individualized treatment plan will be provided including lifestyle modification/risk-factor intervention and/or medication

this will reduce burden of chronic diseases on people/families and prevents health-shock, poverty vicious cycle.

across the globe research proved that risk factor intervention is cost-effective (world-economic-forum) with positive results with in short time. 

we aim to serve minimum of 200,000 people in 3 years

I am doctor with post-graduation from royal college of England. I have two decades of experience in women-health. another  team-member (doctor) has  two decades of experience in chronic-disease management 

we are committed  for women empowerment and bring equitable healthcare for rural women. being well-known in the field with many professional connects, we believe we are positioned well for initial sustainability. we do need additional support to impact more people.

successful completion of pilot, partnering with other organisations, would certainly bring more credibility and sustainability and attract further resources.

being part of SOLVE community would certainly helps in this humanitarian cause. 

equal-hearts, an out-reach program providing services with-in the villages. 

equal screening services are bundled (behavioural, metabolic risk assessment (blood tests), risk estimation and doctor's consultation) as one package and priced at $15.

cost of accessing similar services including travel costs, losing one-day earnings,would sum-up to $40.

we are hoping to attract Grants, CSR funds, crowd-funding, to sponsor the screening, so the cost to the consumer would be zero,

partner with financial-institutions like banks/micro-finances/insurance companies, to do equal-hearts screening as part of their health check-ups.

1) Media visibility & exposure. we believe SOLVE is the right market place to make our solution visible to international communities and generating brand value

2) expertise & human capital: connections @ MIT campus and enriched eco-systems  would be of great help for scalability and sustainability, and connect with organization to replicate our model in other emerging-markets.

3) Grants/sponsors: we are looking to attract grants and sponsors who can pay for this service, so the services can be offered to the rural women at free of cost and we believe organizations in similar field will be interested in helping us.

1. organizational connects -our main barrier and key-point for success  is forming meaningful partnerships, with organizations working with similar objectives.

accessing MIT's global community of private, public and non-profit leaders to form partnerships will be a tremendous opportunity for equal-hearts.

2. Grants/sponsors: we operate in remote villages with minimal access to resources  and is very challenging to attract grants and sponsors. majority of the beneficiaries are poor and we will need funding support to screen these people

being on solve platform can help us to attract grants and sponsors to save more women.