Health eVillages’ New Partnerships Include Last Mile Health;
the National Council on Aging; and YMCA of Greater Cleveland
Contact: Kimberly Janicak
(615) 557-5965
Kimberly.janicak@healthevillages.org
MARLBOROUGH, MA (December 19, 2019) – Health eVillages, a global non-profit organization that advances healthcare access and improves the quality of care by providing mobile health technology to medical and public health professionals, has launched three new partnerships in 2019 in communities in the United States and Liberia, while continuing its work with longstanding partners in Haiti, Africa, and the United States.
This year, Health eVillages has empowered healthcare providers by providing lifesaving digital tools including nearly 1000 tablets and iPads with 65,000+ important lifesaving medical apps and titles, subsequently delivering care to communities in 14 countries across 59 different project sites. These digital tools are used to diagnose and treat patients, to provide health education to patients and to train healthcare providers.
“Health eVillages continues to significantly move the needle on global health by strengthening existing partnerships and launching new ones,” said Donato Tramuto, Health eVillages founder. “Our efforts are improving the quality of life for those living in communities with substantial healthcare access-challenges, especially those resulting from the social determinants of health like food insecurity and loneliness, as well as difficulties in accessing healthcare”.
Last Mile Health: Empowering Community Health Workers with Digital Tools and Technology
Last Mile Health and the Ministry of Health of Liberia have distributed digital health tools and training to more than 3,600 Community Health Workers and nurse supervisors, completing digital health deployment to every frontline health worker under Liberia’s National Community Health Assistant Program. Each device includes Community Health Academy courses on the treatment of malaria and malnutrition for children under five. Health eVillages provided a grant this year to support the digital health rollout of these tools to 138 Community Health Workers in Maryland County, Liberia and the development of performance management tools. As a result of the Maryland County deployment, approximately 26,790 people in rural communities now have access to life-saving primary healthcare services through a digitally empowered community health worker.
National Council on Aging: Enrolling Seniors in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Health eVillages and the National Council on Aging are working together to enroll 3,500 seniors in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which is the federal food stamp program that provides food-purchasing assistance for low-income residents of the United States. Considering the impact of healthy nutrition on the physical and mental health of older adults, Health eVillages is working with NCOA at 10 different community-based organizations in nine states to help reduce food insecurity by enabling home visits and outreach events using mobile tablets for SNAP eligibility assessments and applications.
YMCA of Greater Cleveland, New “Technology Café”: Helping Seniors Navigate Patient Portals and Safely Connect Through Social Media
The YMCA of Greater Cleveland provides quality programming and activities that promote a balanced spirit, mind, body. They have teamed up with Health eVillages and will use iPads for their new “Technology Café” at multiple branch locations beginning in early 2020. Older adults will be trained to use the Internet, access patient medical portals and utilize social media. The Café aims to improve overall health while reducing social isolation and loneliness for this specific population. Staff from the Y will host educational sessions on different tech topics to help seniors gain necessary technology skills and knowledge to boost social engagement and improve their overall quality of life.
Commitment to Co-Sponsoring Annual Connectivity Summit on Rural Aging
In August, Health eVillages and Tivity Health® hosted the third annual Connectivity Summit on Rural Aging in Nashville, TN. The theme was “Demystifying Social Determinants of Health to Promote Healthier Aging in the 21st Century,” and featured speakers including Katie Couric, Senator Bill Frist, MIT AgeLab founder Joseph Coughlin, Ph.D. and others who focused on the importance of social, economic, and environmental factors that influence health status for older Americans living in rural areas. In 2020, Health eVillages and Tivity Health® will join together to host the next summit which will examine “Ending Loneliness & Building Connections in A Digital Age.” The summit will be held in Nashville on September 22-23, 2020. Visit www.ruralage.com for more information.
Continued Success with Existing Programs and Partners
In 2019, Health eVillages continued to support existing partners around the world, including:
Lwala Community Alliance (Lwala, Kenya)
Since 2017, Health eVillages and the Lwala Community Alliance have focused on the Tramuto Foundation/Health eVillages Nutrition Initiative to address one of the leading causes of preventable death in this rural community, malnutrition. Equipped with training, tablets and digital tools, Community Health Workers are responsible for screening for malnutrition and other conditions such as pregnancy complications, diarrhea, HIV and TB. As a result of this partnership, 1,763 households have been enrolled and over 5,000 children have been screened. According to Lwala Community Alliance, 45% of child deaths are linked to malnutrition. Together we have seen a significant decrease in morbidity and mortality.
Kijabe Hospital (Kijabe, Kenya)
This year, Health eVillages provided 140 digital Skyscape accounts loaded with clinical training content and apps to nurse anesthetists in a new training program in Ethiopia hosted by our partner, Kijabe Hospital, a Kenyan teaching hospital. In addition, Health eVillages’ resources remain in active use at Kijabe Hospital’s main campus outside Nairobi, Kenya and are used regularly to prepare for and perform surgical procedures and to address other medical emergencies. Between 2018 and 2019, 5500 patients experienced successful medical procedures and were properly discharged with the assistance of these resources.
WellShare International (Bariadi District, Tanzania)
WellShare International partners with communities and healthcare providers to design, implement and evaluate health programs that respond to the needs of each population they serve. Health eVillages has deployed 35 iPads which are being used by Community Health Workers and several health facilities in a remote region of Tanzania. The Community Health Workers use these tools to educate patients about malaria prevention, maternal health issues, proper breast-feeding techniques and to assist with cervical cancer screenings. Collectively, the Community Health Workers have had 84,883 patient contacts in 20 isolated villages using Health eVillages’ iPads since this partnership began in 2018.
Additional global projects supported by Health eVillages include: Angels of Hope (Uganda), Be Like Brit Foundation/Regis College (Haiti), Cameroon Agenda for Sustainable Development (Cameroon), Child Legacy International (Malawi), Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais (Haiti), Partners in Compassionate Care (South Sudan), Real Medicine Foundation (South Sudan) and Village Hope Core (Kenya.)
Health eVillages continued its domestic-focused work this year with: Foundation for Senior Living (Arizona), Harrington Family Health Center (Maine), Loudon Volunteer Caregivers (Virginia), Mercy Community Healthcare (Tennessee) and Saint Joseph’s College of Maine (Maine.)
“We are humbled by the commitment of our partners on the frontlines who, despite often unimaginable challenges, put their patients and their communities first, delivering healthcare and services to those with no other help or hope,” said Merrill Warschoff Press, Health eVillages Executive Director. “In 2020, Health eVillages looks forward to working with even more dedicated health professionals in the U.S. and around the world who can provide help and hope to those who need it most.”
About Health eVillages:
Since 2011, Health eVillages, a global non-profit organization, collaborates to advance healthcare access and to improve the quality of care by providing state-of-the-art mobile health technology including medical reference and clinical decision support tools, as well as other community-focused resources, to medical and public health professionals in the most challenging clinical environments around the world. Our partners include Tivity Health®, Sharecare, the Tramuto Foundation, Skyscape, Global Impact, the Maternity Foundation, Medical Aid Films, and more. You can find more information at http://www.healthevillages.org and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.