Meducine

By working to improve health literacy rates over time, the U.S. economy alone can save nearly $2.2 trillion. The European Health Literacy

Survey revealed that 12% of all respondents have inadequate general health literacy and 35% have problematic health literacy. Health literacy is global issue and is creating a negative impact on healthcare systems across the globe.

The Problem:

1) Health Information Disparity: 

The problem we're trying to solve is the large variations in who has access to trustworthy health information, especially in underprivileged communities around the globe. This lack of access causes several problems, such as false information, ignorance of preventive actions, and challenges in properly managing medical illnesses

2) Language Barriers:

Language barriers hinder access to crucial health information for individuals who do not speak the dominant language of their region. This lack of access can lead to misunderstandings, misinformation, and ultimately, poorer health outcomes. 

3) Geographical Barriers:

In remote or underserved areas, geographical barriers limit access to healthcare facilities and resources. This lack of access exacerbates health disparities and prevents individuals from receiving timely medical care and information. 

4) Preventive Care:

The lack of emphasis on preventive care and health education contributes to the burden of preventable diseases. Without access to information about preventive measures such as vaccinations, screenings, and healthy lifestyle choices, individuals are more susceptible to illness and disease.

5) Cultural Sensitivity:

Cultural differences and insensitivity in healthcare delivery can lead to mistrust, disengagement, and disparities in health outcomes. Failure to address cultural norms, beliefs, and practices in healthcare communication and services further widens the gap in access and quality of care.

6) Community Engagement:

Limited opportunities for community engagement and collaboration in health promotion initiatives hinder efforts to improve population health. Without active participation and support from the community, interventions and programs may be less effective in addressing local health needs and priorities.

7) Empowerment:

Lack of empowerment and self-advocacy skills among individuals prevents them from actively participating in their healthcare decisions and advocating for their needs. Without empowerment, individuals may feel disempowered and disengaged from their health, leading to suboptimal health outcomes.

8) Health Equity:

Disparities in access to healthcare information and resources contribute to broader health inequities within communities and across populations. Achieving health equity requires addressing these disparities and ensuring that everyone has equal opportunities to access and benefit from healthcare services and information.

The scale of the Issue & Global Impact: 

Millions of people worldwide are impacted by this problem, which poses especially serious difficulties in low-resource environments where there is restricted access to healthcare services and information. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 2 billion people globally lack access to basic healthcare services and that many more struggle to get reliable health information because of things like distance, lack of knowledge, and language obstacles.

Meducine is an innovative smartphone application created to reduce the knowledge gap between everyday understanding and medical complexity. 

It functions as a credible, comprehensive, multilingual learning platform that democratizes health literacy by enabling users of all skill levels and backgrounds to learn core medical knowledge.

1 - Various Learning Levels:

Meducine provides a large collection of health-related data that has been carefully selected by medical experts. The content is available at different learning levels to accommodate the different educational levels that people may have.

A broad range of subjects available for users including anatomy, physiology, common illnesses, available treatments, and preventive care strategies. The app offers a comprehensive approach to health education, including everything from fundamental health ideas to more specific medical insights.

2 - Gamification

Meducine stands out for its creative application of gamification strategies to improve user retention and engagement. Through the use of features like point systems, progress monitoring, and interactive quizzes, the app turns learning into a fun and fulfilling experience. To feel accomplished and inspired to keep studying, users can compete with peers, unlock new levels, and earn points for finishing modules.

3 - Geographic Relevance + Cultural Sensitivity

Meducine uses modern technology to produce content that is specifically catered to the needs and preferences of each user. Community healthcare professionals work together to further integrate geographic inclusivity, cultural sensitivity, and other key components needed for users to gain relevant health literacy.

4 - Multilingual

Additionally, the app's multilingual functionality enables users to get health information in their local tongue, regardless of their linguistic background.

5 - A Community to Strengthen Health Systems

Meducine offers educational functions as well as a platform for community empowerment and interaction. Users can engage in conversations on a range of health-related issues, connect with peers, and exchange knowledge and experiences. The app helps people make decisions about their health and well-being by fostering a sense of community and support.

6 - Encouraging Medical Professionals to Practice Advocacy

This platform encourages medical professionals to practice advocacy and actively work towards strengthening their local community's health system.

In conclusion, Meducine's creative approach to health literacy closes knowledge gaps, encourages people to take charge of their health, and cultivates an advocacy culture within the medical community.

Who Benefits from Our Solution?

In one word = EVERYONE

Universal Reach: 

A wide spectrum of people from various languages, cultures, and demographics can benefit from our solution.

Accessible to All: 

Regardless of age, educational attainment, or financial situation, we want to break down barriers to healthcare information by creating a welcoming and easy-to-use platform.

Global Audience: 

Our ultimate goal is to reach a global audience, which includes underprivileged populations in both developed and developing countries, despite our initial concentration being on communities with limited access to trustworthy health services.

What impact will it have on their lives?

Accessibility: 

Our approach guarantees that everyone, regardless of background, can access vital health information by removing linguistic and cultural obstacles.

Empowerment: 

We think that the key to power is knowledge. Our portal enables people to take charge of their health and make educated decisions by offering simple-to-understand health information.

Health Literacy: 

A lot of people have trouble understanding the technical terms and ideas used in medicine. Through the clear and succinct presentation of information, our approach seeks to close this gap and raise users' level of health literacy.
'Better Results Our ultimate objective is to improve health outcomes for all people worldwide. Through the provision of precise and empirically-supported information, we aim to assist people in better managing their health and leading more fulfilling lives.

With 108 members from over 40 countries, the Meducine team primarily consists of physicians, residents, and medical students from a broad range of surgical and medical specializations. In addition to this, we have numerous advisors in different specialties who provide their expertise from time to time.

Together, we are dedicated to enhancing healthcare education and information sharing via Meducine's cutting-edge platform.

Under the direction of Dr. Tami Vasanthakumaran, our team is in a unique position to develop and successfully provide our solution to the intended audience. Our closeness to the communities we serve and our dedication to inclusive design are just as significant as our experience and qualifications.

Due to her vast clinical and academic background, Dr. Vasanthakumaran offers a unique perspective on the healthcare needs of many groups. Her extensive experience working in a variety of medical settings across the globe has given her a profound grasp of the social, cultural, and economic aspects that affect healthcare results and access. This closeness to communities is essential to guaranteeing that our solution takes into account their unique requirements and preferences.

Since Meducine is still in its early working version and is being tested and improved upon before being widely deployed, we have chosen the Prototype stage.

The Meducine app's primary features, such as its multilingual support, and sample-tailored content, have all been developed and tested thus far.

Our team is currently finalizing curriculum development and this curriculum is currently focused on globally-similar health topics as opposed to topics that differ from region to region.

Although we haven't yet assisted any clients or beneficiaries, our main goal has been to develop a solid prototype that sets the groundwork for future impact and scalability. 

Our dedication lies in making sure Meducine fulfills the requirements of its customers and provides noticeable advantages in enhancing health literacy across the globe.

We are applying to Solve because we believe it offers an exclusive opportunity to get in touch with collaborators who can assist us get over certain obstacles and increase the reach of our solution, Meducine.

1. Technical Expertise: 

Because this is a technology-driven solution, there could be potential for innovation or technical difficulties. The network of professionals at Solve can offer insightful advice, technical support, and mentorship to improve the usefulness and efficiency of our software.

2. Legal Advice: 

It can be difficult to navigate legal systems and rules, especially when it comes to healthcare. To guarantee the integrity and legality of our platform, Solve can help connect users with legal professionals who can offer advice on compliance, data protection, and other legal issues.

3. Cultural Sensitivity: 

Meducine wants to serve customers from a variety of backgrounds by being inclusive and culturally relevant. We may customize our content and approach by connecting with Solve's network of cultural experts and community leaders, who can offer valuable insights into cultural nuances, preferences, and sensitivities.

4. Market Access: 

Strategic alliances and market intelligence are necessary to penetrate new markets and reach underprivileged populations. We can get in touch with local businesses, medical professionals, and civic leaders through Solve, who can help us with distribution routes, market access, and user engagement plans that are suited to particular areas and demographics.

5. Financial Support: 

Although it's not our only goal, we understand that having sufficient funding will help us grow our platform and add more individuals from all over the world. Through its network, Solve can put us in touch with grant opportunities, investors, or benefactors who share our commitment to enhancing health literacy.

Ultimately, we envision Solve as a platform that can help us overcome a variety of obstacles and optimize the impact of Meducine on global health literacy. This includes collaborations, coaching, and crucial non-monetary support.

There exists a stigma that the body and its functions are complicated and "too much" for the average person to understand - let alone someone overcoming societal barriers. 

Meducine is innovative for various reasons:

1) It's Fun!

The gamification features (earning points, completing levels, engaging with others, and so on) help users navigate health literacy with more enthusiasm. 

A great example can be seen with the app Duolingo - a language learning app that utilizes gamification to increase user interest to build a community of over 500 million users! 

People have the time and will to learn new things on their devices - so why not allow them to better understand their health? This would in turn empower them to make more informed clinical decisions, be able to better communicate and comprehend in clinical settings, and overall reduce late-stage diagnoses.

2) Various Features to Overcome Societal Constraints

- Accessibility 

Meducine is so much more than what a person can google to understand about their health. The internet and social media can be overwhelming and inaccurate to learn about health topics.

Meducine creates a reliable platform in which the content is guaranteed to be credible since curated by medical professionals.

- Multilingual

Being available in over 150 languages is how Meducine overcomes the language gap that causes health disparities around the globe.

- Geographic Relevance + Cultural Inclusivity

Furthermore, Meducine provides personalized content that varies on the geography and cultural aspects of the user. For instance, the nutritional content may not look the same for a vegan vs. a carnivore. Similarly, tropical medicine topics are of less relevance to people living in Canada.

- Different Educational Levels

Did you know? 20% of US Citizens read at a 5th-grade level or below.  This number increases to 40% of seniors and rises even further to 50% of African Americans & Hispanics.

Meducine hopes to be comprehensive to all by having health literacy content available at varying levels of comprehension.

3) An opportunity to build and normalize advocacy among healthcare providers

Despite various health disparities existing globally, the medical school curriculum and physician training curriculum have very little to no teaching on advocacy that is mandatory.

Many students, residents, and physicians want to help but often don't know how.

This is where Meducine steps in as a platform providing students and physicians a safe space to actively help educate their communities, provide key medical updates through a comprehensive content and overall build a stronger health system.

Our solution seeks to close the gap in healthcare access by providing everyone, regardless of language, geography, or reading ability, easily digestible and culturally tailored health information. Our approach is anticipated to provide the following effects through the application of cutting-edge technology and community engagement tactics:

1. Enhanced Knowledge of Health

2. Greater Availability 

3. Cultural Sensitivity 

4. Promotion of Preventive Care 

5. Empowerment of the Community

6. Diminished Health Inequalities

All things considered, we anticipate that our approach—which makes use of technology, community relationships, and a thorough comprehension of the many requirements of the populations we serve—will fundamentally alter healthcare outcomes and access.

Measurement Metrics:

1. The number of individuals reached through our digital platforms and community outreach efforts.
2. Pre- and post-intervention assessments of health literacy levels.
3. Engagement metrics such as website visits, app downloads, and social media interactions.
4. Feedback from community members on the cultural relevance and sensitivity of our health information.
5. Surveys and interviews to assess changes in knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to preventive care.
6. Participation rates in community-led health initiatives and advocacy efforts.

Meducine uses modern technology—specifically, the creation of mobile applications—to tackle the pressing problem of health literacy. Our primary technology is focused on creating an intuitive mobile application that runs on both the iOS and Android operating systems.

The software has gamification components, individualized content delivery, multilingual support, accessibility features, and other features to improve health education and engagement. Gamification makes learning more engaging and dynamic by allowing users to connect with others, finish stages, and earn points.

With features like text-to-speech capability, voice commands, and changeable font sizes to suit users with disabilities or weak literacy skills, the software is also extremely accessible.

Meducine hopes to integrate AI to deliver individualized health information based on each user's requirements, preferences, and cultural background by leveraging sophisticated content management systems and algorithms. This guarantees that the content will always be pertinent and available to users from a wide range of global communities.

To sum up, Meducine uses mobile technology to give consumers all over the world easily accessible, interesting, and customized health education. The ultimate goal is to enable people to make decisions about their health and well-being that are well-informed.

With 108 members from over 40 countries, the Meducine team primarily consists of physicians, residents, and medical students from a broad range of surgical and medical specializations. In addition to this, we have numerous advisors in different specialties who provide their expertise from time to time.

Together, we are dedicated to enhancing healthcare education and information sharing via Meducine's cutting-edge platform.

All members have been working on Meducine on a part-time basis. We hope to transition to more full-time positions with further funding.

Approximately 2 years

At Meducine, diversity isn't just a goal—it's our strength. 

Our team brings together individuals from diverse backgrounds, including BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and cultures with extensive healthcare experience.

We aim to have these members be able to build a health literacy platform that is tailored to the environments, people, and traditions specific to their community. 

Someone from a small village in Sri Lanka may need to know how to navigate a snake bite whereas someone from Nunavut may need to know how to navigate frostbite. Diversity is the element of building health literacy that is patient-focused.

How we plan to minimize barriers to diversity:

The simple answer is = with resilience and compassion. If a team member has poor service during a meeting, we will ensure there is a recording for them to watch and a way to share their ideas. We also hope to maximize diversity by allowing zero room for discrimination or prejudice. 

We aim to integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion not only in our staffing but also in how we build Meducine. 

By collaborating closely with healthcare professionals around the world, we hope to make Meducine as inclusive and culturally sensitive as possible to bring forward maximal impact to global health.

Meducine's business model concentrates on meeting the vital demand for trustworthy and easily available health information among a range of demographics, all the while promoting development and sustainability via planned revenue production. 

To ensure accessibility and sustainability, Meducine will operate a free version of the app and a subscription option providing extra features and benefits. This dual approach ensures that cost is not a barrier to accessing quality health information while fostering long-term financial sustainability for this initiative.

Meducine runs on a business-to-consumer (B2C) basis as we collect important data and improve our application. To increase our influence and reach, we are searching for partnerships with different organizations (B2B), including governmental health agencies (B2G).

Key Customers and Beneficiaries:

• Individuals wishing to strengthen their health literacy and understanding of numerous health-related topics.

• Organizations such as schools, community centers, healthcare providers, and governmental health organizations are interested in promoting health literacy among their members, patients, or citizens.

Products and Services:

• Free Version: Basic access to the Meducine app, providing essential health education content covering a wide range of topics, from basic hygiene practices to disease prevention and management.

• Premium Subscription: Enhanced features and personalized content, including advanced health literacy modules, ad-free experiences, and additional gamified elements.

Delivery of Products/Services

• Through a user-friendly mobile application available on various platforms, ensuring accessibility and ease of use for all users.

• Utilizing cloud technology for real-time data processing and storage, ensuring a seamless and secure user experience.

Value Proposition

• Individual users: Meducine offers a platform that enhances health literacy, empowering users to make informed decisions about their health and well-being.

• For organizations (including governmental health organizations): Meducine provides a valuable tool for promoting health literacy among their members, patients, or citizens, ultimately contributing to improved health outcomes and community well-being.

By aligning our value proposition with the needs of our customers and beneficiaries, Meducine aims to make health education engaging, accessible, and effective for all, while also exploring strategic partnerships and revenue opportunities to support our mission and drive long-term success.

Fundamentally, Meducine offers a multimodal platform that promotes community involvement, provides individualized health education, and assesses its impact on increasing health literacy levels globally.

Meducine's plan for financial sustainability revolves around a multifaceted approach that includes revenue generation from various sources, ensuring our ability to fund our work and drive long-term impact. Our revenue model encompasses a combination of the following:

Raising Investment Capital:

In addition to grants and revenue from product sales and service contracts, we are exploring opportunities to raise investment capital from impact investors and venture capital firms. This capital infusion will fuel our growth strategy, allowing us to expand our team, enhance our technology infrastructure, and accelerate our market penetration efforts. We believe that strategic investment partnerships will enable us to scale our impact and drive sustainable growth in the long run. 

Currently, Meducine has won first place at UNITE 2030's Launch 2030 program granting us direct entry as a global finalist for the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge, and will be competing for up to $75,000. 

Donations and Grants:

We hope to secure grants and donations from philanthropic organizations, governmental health agencies, and other funding bodies that align with our mission of promoting health literacy. These funds support our research and development efforts, content creation, platform maintenance, and community outreach initiatives. 

Products or Services:

Meducine offers premium subscription services to users seeking enhanced features and personalized content on our platform. The revenue generated from premium subscriptions contributes to our operational expenses and ongoing product development efforts. Additionally, we explore opportunities to collaborate with healthcare organizations, educational institutions, and corporate partners to offer customized health education solutions tailored to their needs, generating additional revenue streams.

Service Contracts to Governments:

We hope to secure service contracts with governmental health organizations to provide tailored health education solutions at scale. These contracts involve deploying Meducine's platform within public health systems, schools, and community centers to promote health literacy and empower citizens to make informed health decisions. By partnering with governments, we aim to leverage their resources and infrastructure to reach underserved populations and address pressing public health challenges.

Overall, we plan to have a diversified revenue model, coupled with successful fundraising efforts and strategic partnerships, which would position us for financial sustainability and provide us the ability to bring forward long-term impact in promoting health literacy globally.