VM
MiraCal
In Uttar Pradesh (UP), India, over 7000 children are born each year with clubfoot. Clubfoot, a condition which leaves the feet bent inward and upward, often results in limited mobility, employment discrimination, and social stigma when left untreated.
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MiracleFeet is the largest global nonprofit offering free clubfoot treatment. They entered India in July of 2018, setting up small clinics inside government-run hospitals that provide counseling for families and training for orthopedic surgeons. However, their team found that most families were not reaching their clinics - and if they were, it was often too late to perform surgery.
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Our team was tasked with increasing early referrals to MiracleFeet clinics.
Brief
Increasing early referrals to MiracleFeet-India's clubfoot treatment services
Role & Context
On-the-ground & remote user researcher and service designer on team of 4
Dates & Links
Defining the Problem
Most families are not reaching MiracleFeet. When families learn of their child’s clubfoot, they are understandably overwhelmed and frustrated. Delivery doctors, nurses, and community health workers like ASHAs may not know where to refer families for quality treatment. Families then turn to friends, relatives, and neighbors to seek guidance. Their recommendations are trusted, but are often unsound. Families frequently obtain ineffective treatment from local quack doctors or orthopedic doctors untrained in the Ponseti method. Such ineffective treatment is emotionally taxing and financially devastating, dissuading families from seeking further treatment.
Key Findings
More detailed information on our process will be coming shortly.
Our Product
MiraCal is an audio calendar gift that conveys critical information about clubfoot and treatment at MiracleFeet. MiraCal delivers an audio message and visual diagram regarding the importance of seeking treatment at MiracleFeet clinics and motivating the listener to refer children with clubfoot to MiracleFeet. MiraCal should be distributed en masse to families with young children (whether they have a child with clubfoot or not) so that a diverse cross-section of the population is aware of clubfoot treatment options. Given the importance of word-of-mouth referrals in determining a family’s choice of treatment, ensuring that more individuals know about clubfoot treatment increases the likelihood that their friends, family, and acquaintances that have children with clubfoot will be referred to MiracleFeet. Ultimately, MiraCal is intended to facilitate early and trustworthy referrals to MiracleFeet’s high-quality clubfoot treatments sites.
Why This Works
Although we recognize the simplicity of our solution, it is appropriate for our setting and likely to have tangible impacts for the following reasons:
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Gifts are highly valued in Uttar Pradesh; culturally, gifts are treated with respect
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Calendars are displayed prominently and with pride. In every home and clinic that we visited in Uttar Pradesh, multiple calendars were put on walls regardless of the type of information that was on them
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These calendars are amenable to massive-scale distribution at a relatively low cost, meaning that this solution is scalable to different situations
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The more people that have these calendars, the more community knowledge of clubfoot exists
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People who have interfaced with our calendars so far demonstrate a willingness and internal responsibility to help any child in their community who has clubfoot.