Video conference between Ghana and Mannheim University of Applied Sciences

Videoconferencing in the Ghanaian hinterland - a transcontinental exchange between experts

Gravel roads, bush fires and scorching sun. It is a scorching hot day. The pick-up creakingly leaves the asphalt road from Ho in the direction of Adaklu Waya. Ho, which is the regional capital of the Volta Region in southeastern Ghana, not far from the border with Togo. The Volta region is one of the poorest areas in Ghana. Many people live widely scattered in small villages or settlements. The pick-up truck drives to one of these villages. The driver skillfully dodges boulders and potholes. It's wobbly. The ride is brisk. The windows are closed because otherwise there would be too much dust and dirt blowing into the car. On the side of the road, fellow drivers see scorched earth, cattle driving, and people carrying water home in canisters from a hole next to the dusty dirt road. Here in the Volta region, HITA e.V. is committed to improving medical care. And a HITA team is on board the pick-up. Thomas Erkert and Daniel Gerlach, both on the board of HITA e.V., check the technology once again. Petra Knott, formerly a nurse, now a teacher, prepares a checklist. "We had doubts whether it would all work as we had agreed in Germany!" recalls Daniel Gerlach, who was responsible for the technical equipment.

01_EPC-Clinic_Waya

Figure 1: E.P.C. Clinic in Adaklu Waya, Volta Region, Ghana

After about an hour, the jerking is over. The pick-up turns into the parking lot in front of a modern building, a small primary care clinic (Figure 1). Mainly malaria, infections or wounds are treated here. Children also see the light of day here. Behind the doors, the picture changes. Dusty sinks with no running water, patient rooms with no beds, foam mattresses on the floor or a wooden platform. According to the impression of the experts from Germany, the facility was not taken into account during the construction of the building (Figures 2 and 3).

02_1_inside_EPC-Clinic

Figure 2: There is a lack of equipment at the E.P.C. Clinic Adaklu Waya. The building was financed by a private initiative

The HITA team walks past the operating room, or what is called an operating room. Under these circumstances, surgery is out of the question. At the end of the corridor is the reception, in front of it is a waiting area. Here, the experts from Germany are warmly welcomed. Thomas Erkert, Petra Knott and Daniel Gerlach bring many years of experience from the healthcare sector. Togbe Lablulu is happy about the reunion: "You promised to come back and you kept your promise!". As a tribal leader, a Togbe is comparable to a mayor in Germany. He is joined by a team of midwives, nurses, and a representative of the clinic operator. The tension is rising.

02_2_inside_EPC-Clinic

Figure 3: The E.P.C. Clinic Adaklu Waya lacks equipment. The building was financed by a private initiative

Quickly a banner of HITA e.V. is put up and then we start. Daniel Gerlach sets up a laptop with webcam on the reception counter. Next to it comes a cell phone for data connection. One click to start the video call. And it rings. Suddenly voices and images from Mannheim. The connection stands. The quality is good. The students from Mannheim are happy on one side of the line. The medical staff at the other end of the line are excited: the students from Mannheim University of Applied Sciences present the prototype of an app for documenting the course of diseases in structurally weak areas (Figure 4).

03_Videoconference

Figure 4: HITA e.V. facilitates a video conference between Mannheim University of Applied Sciences and medical staff from Ghana

This app was created as part of a design thinking course. Design thinking is a method for developing systems and solutions that focus on the users, in this case patients and medical staff. The nurses in Ghana give constructive feedback and consider a possible use of the presented app in their daily clinic routine. The clinic manager considers the ideas from Germany to be promising and would be pleased about further cooperation. The printouts of the prepared presentation brought as a fallback option will not be used. The mobile network in Adaklu Waya is strong enough to provide data connection. After a good hour of exchange, the protocol is followed, as is customary in Ghana, and Togbe Lablulu thanks all participants for the inspiring insights and the opportunity to work together with young people across continents in this special way.

Done! It all worked out! The tension fades and there is a bit more "chatter" (Figure 5). Daniel Gerlach dismantles the temporary video telephony system. Together with the clinic staff, Petra Knott and Thomas Erkert set up two more patient rooms. In the meantime, a cleaner has removed the coarsest dirt. Modern patient couches, beds and furniture, which HITA e.V. brought to Ghana by shipping container as a donation from a hospital in Germany, are checked and explained to the clinic staff: "In addition to cleanliness and hygiene, it is essential that the furniture is placed in such a way that the patients can be reached from every side," is just one of the many aids that Petra Knott and Thomas Erkert discuss with the staff from Ghana (Figure 6 and 7).

Enriched by many new motivating impressions, the HITA team climbs back into the pick-up a few hours later. On the way, workers, farmers and students ride a bit. They quickly climb onto the flatbed and knock on the back window when they want to get off again to finish the journey to their home on foot through the bush. At dusk, the pick-up reaches the city of Ho again. The cooperation will continue even after the HITA experts return to Germany. The prototype of the app is to be developed into a deployable market-ready solution. The nursing staff, clinic manager and Togbe Lablulu are eager to see the results.
Figure 6: The HITA team explains how to handle medical equipment and assists in setting up the clinic.
Figure 7: The HITA team explains how to handle medical equipment and assists in setting up the clinic.

On June 15, we put a podcast online with more updates on this project on our audio platform, HITA Radio. The two HITA board members Thomas Erkert and Daniel Gerlach report in an insightful interview about the genesis of the project, the current development of the app and from the video conference they held earlier this year during their visit to Ghana together with experts on site and with the students in Mannheim.

About HITA e.V.:

Healthcare IT for Africa e.V. (HITA e.V., www.hita-ev.org) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization. HITA e.V. is an association of experts from the fields of education, development cooperation, health care, business administration, management and information technologies, all of whom work on a voluntary basis. HITA e.V. has been implementing educational projects for vocational schools, as well as telemedicine and infrastructure projects for the health sector since 2009. The focus is currently on the rural areas of Ghana. As a non-profit, non-governmental organization, HITA e.V.'s vision is to help optimize the professional education of non-physician personnel with the help of eHealth and mHealth technologies. These are forms of learning that use electronic or digital media for the presentation and distribution of learning materials, with the option of using portable devices such as smartphones or tablets. The goal of HITA e.V. is the sustainable improvement of health care in rural areas of Africa.

Download article as PDF: HITA Videoconference