COVID-Care@Home – Innovation Challenge by TGI Health Accelerator Programme
The ongoing surge in COVID-19 cases across India has overwhelmed the healthcare delivery systems capacity. In this context, many citizens affected by COVID-19 are trying to manage themselves at home. As the transmission of COVID-19 continues unabated across the country, populations living in rural areas are facing severe brunt due to existing challenges to routine health care services. There is an urgent need to develop solutions that address the challenges faced by people with COVID-19 with a special focus on rural India and other south east Asian countries.
The George Institute for Global Health, India Health Accelerator Programme is launching an innovation challenge “Covid-Care@Home, the programme will include an ideathon and a hackathon dedicated to developing /identifying solutions that will support effective home-based care for COVID-19 to support families and communities in rural areas.
Categories
- Management of COVID-19 at home and post COVID complications – With an acute shortage of hospital beds and suboptimal access to timely in-patient care in many parts of rural India, a large number of citizens will be required to manage themselves with COVID at home. We are seeking solutions that support and empower people with minimal literacy to engage in self-care, identify worsening of symptoms and seek health assistance in case of any worsening of symptoms.
- Ensuring access to essential medical supplies for management of COVID-19 - Shortage of essential medical supplies has become the most prominent issue of the pandemic crisis. We are seeking solutions that enable better management of the supply chain and provide transparency to various stakeholders, also disruptive distribution mechanisms that will ensure doorstep access to essential tools for self-management of COVID-19 at home.
- Tools for dissemination of verified information and tackling misinformation – unproven cures for COVID-19 are rampantly being disseminated and practiced across the country. The misinformation epidemic is wreaking havoc and preventing people from accessing the right care and contributing to vaccine hesitancy. We are seeking solutions that allow for mass information dissemination of verified information and support citizens in their decision making concerning COVID-19 management.
- Mental health support for frontline health workers and people affected by COVID-19 – While physical health is primarily in focus, the mental health impact of the pandemic is exponentially rising. Moreover, the prolonged nature of this public crisis has pushed healthcare workers to their limits and devasted thousands of families. We are seeking solutions that provide timely quality mental health support to frontline health workers and people affected by COVID.
Participation Criteria:
- Ideathon is open to school and college students up to those undergoing their master's programme
- Hackathon is open to both individual innovators and companies.
Submission Criteria
- The solution should be easily scalable and easily deployable throughout the country
- The solution should improve upon existing solutions available
- The solution should be cost-effective and must not cost anything to users
- The solution should give utmost importance to patient privacy
Important Dates
- Submission Open Till: 10th June 2021
Award Money
- The winner from each category will be awarded INR 50,000
- Winners will also get an opportunity to become part of the TGI Health Innovation Fellowship where they will be mentored by industry leaders and leading researchers to turn their solution into a scalable business opportunity