FYI. An inspiring application of HCI (Human Computer Interaction). Wish to share here.
Manu ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Divya Ramachandran <[email protected]> Date: Fri, Apr 30, 2010 at 4:17 PM Subject: Dissertation Talk: Mobile Persuasive Technologies for Rural Health To: [email protected] Title: Mobile Persuasive Technologies for Rural Health Speaker: Divya Ramachandran Advisor: Prof. John Canny Date: Thursday, May 6 Time: 10:00AM - 11:00AM Room: 380 Soda Hall Abstract: Mortality rates due to preventable tragedies in the developing world are devastatingly high. For example, 99% of maternal deaths due to complications in pregnancy and childbirth - which number nearly half a million each year - occur in developing regions. While many rural health interventions employ strategies for preventing these deaths, deep-rooted traditional beliefs, stratified social structures and other cultural and political factors often pose barriers to achieving intended outcomes. My research in the field of human-computer interaction looks at how technologies can leverage psychological theories of motivation and persuasion and be designed specifically to overcome barriers to change in developing communities. I discuss three years of field research studying the maternal health care system in rural India, where gaps in training, accountability and credibility of community health workers limit their effectiveness in convincing pregnant women to utilize free medical services. I present the iterative design and deployment of persuasive mobile videos to motivate and build the persuasive power of rural health workers. These include testimonials by influential persons in the villages, and persuasive videos which directly target clients. I describe findings from two experiments that compare the persuasive power of audio information when presented in a lecture style vs. a dialogic question-and-answer mode. I present our results which show improvement in health workers' self-efficacy (an important precursor to motivation), knowledge, and ability to effectively engage clients in important health information.
