Access to health education saves lives.
Every year, 5 million children die globally before reaching their fifth birthday, mostly from preventable illness. Lack of access to health education leaves medically-underserved communities across the globe without the proper knowledge to improve health outcomes.
Digital Medic, an initiative from the Stanford Center for Health Education, has been working with under-resourced communities to create easily adaptable, engaging, video-based health education content to support health programs and initiatives around the world. Developed in partnership with the Stanford School of Medicine, Digital Medic works to equip frontline healthcare providers with the tools and knowledge they need to effectively care for their populations. We also aim to empower patients with the knowledge they need to improve their own health outcomes.
Digital Medic has created an app that will increase access and availability of this vital education, even in remote areas without WiFi access. The Digital Medic app allows community health workers to meet at a central location to access WiFi, download health education content, and then go out into their communities to deliver videos and assessments offline. The health workers can then reconvene and send analytics back to the Digital Medic team to understand impact and improve quality.
A beta version of the app was launched in 2018 on Android to collaborators in India, South Africa, and Uganda. Now the app is available for iOS, serving more physicians and health promoters around the world.
“We are excited to help facilitate healthcare professionals’ ability to access content on-the-go,” says Dr. Charles Prober, Executive Director, Stanford Center for Health Education. “Together we are making evidence-based health education more accessible around the world, enabling communities to improve their own health outcomes.”
About the Digital Medic app:
This app is tailored for the community healthcare professional. App highlights include:
- Content created and vetted by Stanford University
- Content in 6 languages (English, Hindi, Spanish, French, Xhosa, and Afrikaans)
- Ability to download course content to access offline
Download the mobile app:
Watch this video to learn more about Digital Medic.