Need Assessment and Design of an IoT based Healthcare Solution through Participatory Approaches for a Rural Village in Bihar, India

Healthcare needs of individuals in rural areas differ from those in urban areas. Rural areas often lack access to proper healthcare and hence, enhancing the healthcare accessibility in rural areas must be given highest priority. This study focuses on the healthcare sector in the village of Morasiya, in Bhojpur district of Bihar (India). A team of students and faculties, as part of the Live-In-Labs® program, stayed in the village for one week to examine the health conditions of the villagers. The team probed the factors behind the alarming condition of poor health of Morasiya inhabitants, analyzed the prevailing treatment methods in Morasiya, and the services provided by the government-funded Public Health Centre. It was inferred that lack of a local health clinic, negligence towards diet and personal hygiene, and shortage of medical professionals were the main causes behind the poor health of the villagers. Co-design tools were employed to devise a solution to their health challenges. An IoT-based Amrita Smart Health Assistant (ASHA) solution was developed, which monitors and transfers data securely over MQTT to a cloud, which can be accessed and analyzed by medical professionals for remote monitoring of community health in villages.