Our philosophy is one of prevention and timely treatment.
A team of trained Barefoot doctors, dentists, pathologists, health workers and midwives combine traditional healing practices with modern science and technology to improve the health of their communities. Through a network of grassroots leaders, Barefoot College has fostered health awareness among rural men, women and children on issues such as hygiene, food and nutrition, family planning and reproductive health, immunizations, midwifery and HIV prevention. Our healthcare programmes have generated employment, reduced migration and strengthened local economies.
Our ImpactTargeting Sustainability Goals
General Health
The health team comprising Barefoot doctors, pathologists and dentists provide healthcare services to rural patients at an affordable cost. The locals visit the health clinic situated on the New Campus in Tilonia for basic diagnostic, pathological and dental care facilities. They are treated using allopathic, homeopathic, biochemical medicine dissemination and the dental team carries out the basic filling and scaling procedures. The clinic also manages a 10-bed hospital built within the college campus. For treatment of advanced ailments, patients are referred to the closest hospital in their vicinity.
Raising awareness around Menstrual and Reproductive Health
The health team uses a practical yet unique curriculum aided by interactive tools, games and discussions. At the start, the hope was to trigger a critical thought process, backed by scientific facts and logic, the progression of which would challenge age-old taboos and increase awareness around menstrual hygiene management. Today the results in the villages of Rajasthan are truly encouraging and the team is also looking at advancing the programme through the inclusion of boys when discussing topics related to sex-education and gender sensitivity. They are also looking at using the medium of dance and theatre to spread awareness.
Providing antenatal care for pregnant women
The health team works with 9 field centres and each field centre looks after around 5 villages. Each village has an assigned health worker and a local daima (midwife) who are the first point of contact for all pregnant women. Once a woman conceives, the daima makes a note of her specific details. This information is then handed over to the health worker who adds them to the written records. At the end of each month, the daimas and health workers of the various villages meet at their respective field centres. This meeting serves as a platform to provide monthly updates on the no of registered pregnant women and the state of their health. High-risk cases are identified and closely and carefully monitored. The monthly review takes place in two stages – one involves the interaction of the daimas with the health workers and the second involves the updates given by the health workers to the health team in Barefoot College, Tilonia.
Addressing malnutrition
The nutrition levels of locals in the villages of Rajasthan are adversely impacted by their imbalanced food habits. These are often a result of monetary hardships, overcooking of food and lack of diverse nutrient groups in their daily diet. The health team at Barefoot College conducted a Mobile Medical camp, which travelled door-to-door across a select few villages to carry out diagnostic tests to determine the extent of malnutrition and anaemia. The health team decided to provide a nutrition option to help people, especially women and children combat this issue. A mixture of locally available ingredients which is both affordable and palatable is now locally available. Amritchuran, a product made by the rural women of Barefoot College is a good nutritional intervention that suitably addresses this age-old concern.
A Story of Impact
Barefoot College and Medic Mobile work together to improve maternal health in India
Traditional midwives and healthcare workers affiliated to Barefoot College are resorting to an efficient digital aid to be more effective in their roles as community mobilisers. Read to find how.
