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BodyShock Winner Profile: Educating Underserved Patients
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Anjna Patient Education from IFTF on Vimeo.
Here is another of the winning presentations from the BodyShock the Future contest for ideas to improve global health that was held this summer.
One of the top 5 winners of the contest was Anjna Patient Education, an organization founded by Vineet Singal of Stanford University to increase access to health education for underserved populations. His presentation is above, and his entry into the contest describes his innovative idea:
"Anjna Patient Education is the first organization of its kind to specifically target free clinics and reach out to socioeconomically disadvantaged patients. Studies have shown that common diseases such as type II diabetes, hypertension, and depression are heavily prevalent amongst patients from the lowest socioeconomic tier, and that patient education is 50-80% more effective when compared to medication or conventional therapy. Through the distribution of high-quality health education materials and the development of training modules, our project seeks to empower patients in free clinics to take a stand against these preventable diseases with good nutrition, diet, and lifestyle changes."
This week, Vineet sent us an update on their progress in the past couple of months:
"We raised $5,000 in the past couple of months and will be launching a Kickstarter project in February (video below). We are also expanding to the University of California, Berkeley and San Jose State University, and I have been invited to present Anjna’s work at the TEDx conference in Florida, among other conferences."
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We wish Vineet and his team all the best as they moves forward with their idea to bring high quality education to underserved patients. Stay tuned for videos of the final BodyShock winner next week, and for updates on each winner as they make progress.
IFTF's current contest, accepting entries until January 31, is the California Dreams Contest. We're asking people, "What is Your Dream for the Future of California?" The winner will receive the $3,000 Roy Amara Prize for Participatory Foresight. Enter your dream today!