Inputs from ASHAs to shape AI-enabled training platform for cervical cancer screening in Assam
About 110 Accredited Social Health Activists in Barak Valley collaborated with doctors, programmers, and researchers to help design the digital tools
The George Institute for Global Health India and Cachar Cancer Hospital and Research Centre will create an AI-enabled training platform and a multilingual voice chatbot for Assam's cervical cancer screening program. These digital tools will be shaped by the experiences and insights of 110 Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) who participated in a workshop in Silchar.
The workshop aimed to design technology that caters to ASHAs' real-world needs and challenges in community counseling and screening. During the workshop, ASHAs reviewed 155 common questions about cervical cancer and screening, voting on the most frequently asked ones. This exercise revealed that the questions ASHAs frequently encounter in the field may differ from those deemed clinically important.
The insights from the workshop will inform the chatbot's knowledge base, addressing both health information needs and practical concerns ASHAs face. The ASHAs also discussed their comfort with digital technology, with younger and middle-aged ASHAs using mobile phones regularly for reporting and communication, while older ASHAs expressed willingness to learn and improve their digital skills.
The platform will feature features such as voice-based interactions in local languages, simple-language content, search functions, short audio-visual lessons, FAQs, reminders, quizzes, and progress tracking to support ASHAs in their community work.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu - Sci-Tech's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
