Janet Prvu Bettger

Primary Theme: Global Health

Although 15% of the world’s population has some form of disability, the system of public health and health services is not adequately organized to promote independence. Even the most developed and well-resourced nations have medically underserved regions and communities where the presence of disability is compounded by inequities in social determinants of health. In 2016, the Global Alliance on Disability and Health Innovation (GANDHI) launched to engage students, faculty, the Duke community and external partners to examine the system supporting transitions in health and healthcare for people who experience an acute illness or injury and are newly living with disability. With almost a dozen projects in multiple countries over 18 months, coupled with historical evidence that it takes 17 years for evidence-based solutions to be adopted as standard practice, GANDHI team members have asked: What makes an innovation stick? Why does it take so long to scale up interventions?

Primary Theme: Information, Society & Culture

Primary Theme: Global Health

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of deaths and disability in many low-and middle-income countries, including Nepal. Prevention of cardiovascular diseases demands innovative solutions through multidisciplinary and multifaceted approaches. Nepal’s female community health volunteer program has been in place for three decades. Duke researchers have conducted a trial to successfully extend the roles of these volunteers from primarily maternal and child health interventions to include hypertension, a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. With a nearly 100% mobile phone ownership rate in the country, Nepal’s Ministry of Health has prioritized mobile health (mHealth) interventions. Medic Mobile has received support to scale up its feature-phone-based (non-smartphone) program to thousands of female community health volunteers to address prenatal care and maternal health. This Bass Connections project will collaborate with these partners to develop design insights and feature-phone-based programs, which will create a foundation for interventions with the potential to make a significant impact on hypertension prevention and control.