Diversity Health Mobile application

Out of the 12.4% population of PWDs in Uganda, more than 1,083,649 are Deaf persons (UBOS 2014).However the unmet need for Deaf friendly Health care information and Services remains high among Deaf persons mainly due to Lack of available information on SRHR in accessible formats and Limited of Sign language(S/L) skills among a Health and Gender based violence information leading to communication barriers that hinder service delivery.

Due existing communication barriers and low education levels they often have little or no basic knowledge on health and lack power to negotiate safe sex hence higher vulnerability risk to Sexually transmitted infections, teenage and unintended pregnancies, school dropouts, Death and generally poor Health outcomes. WHO/ UNFPA Guidance Note on SRH of persons with disabilities (2009)

Our innovation is a mobile application with a library of Deaf information on various areas of health delivered in Sign language and video content form. The application also comprises of interactive features(messaging and video calling) that connect users to Health workers fluent in Sign Language for further support.

It works by;

1. Enables Deaf persons to access to easily understandable accurate and age appropriate Health care information in sign language accessible any where and any time.

2. With captions and images content in the application can be understood by non- Sign language users.

3. Deaf persons can easily connect with trained health and GBV workers using messaging and video call features. This includes reporting incidences of Gender Based Violence.

4. Provides Health  workers with Sign Language skills for inclusive services delivery.

The solution serves two categories of people, persons with hearing impairment (refugees and Host community in Uganda) . The innovation also has a Sign language training component targeting service providers (health workers and police)aimed at addressing existing communication gap and improve service delivery.

It will largely contribute towards increased availability and utilization of Deaf friendly Healthcare information and services leading to increased awareness, behavior and good health and well being.  Additionally through sign language training the innovation will lead to strengthened the Health System and delivery of inclusive health services.

First and fare most the team comprises of Deaf young innovators with lived experiences and good understanding of issues and challenges faced by Deaf persons in regard to access to Health information and challenges. 

Having first implemented a pilot project in 2021 with YouTube being the main platform of access, we gain relevant expertise. 

Our team also comprises of Deaf professional counselors, trained peer educators with rich background and skill relevant to Health.

Having won the 2021 Human Rights Innovation Award that enabled us to bring this innovation into live, we are confident that we are well positioned to deliver the solution.

We started as pilot project in 2021, 5 accessible video contents on sexual reproductive Health and Rights developed and disseminated on YouTube  and 1,800 Deaf users reached so far. 190, health workers were also trained in Sign language.

We therefore intend to scaleup the impact of our work in terms of:

1. Content scope, developing more content to address more departments of Health

2. Category of users, in addition to Deaf persons in Uganda we will also ensure that the mobile application also benefits refugees.

3. Geographical scope of coverage, whereas we were able to train 190 Health workers from Kampala and Mukono Districts, our aim to reach more health workers including police.

Funding to enable us scale up the innovation either through provision of grants or connection to potential funders and technical support are core areas that we mainly need support for effective implementation of the Innovation.

3 full time and 3 part time staff

2 contractors (Software Development firm and Video content production company