21. Adawe Healthlink

Institution: Carleton University

CSWB plan priority: Integrated and simpler systems

Project Term: Winter 2024

Course Code: BUSI 4709B

Professor: Sujit Sur

Group Members: Hannah Sharpe, Julia Bell, Julia Campbell, Owen Lavender, Rachel Koops

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Background: Our team has been working this semester with Zana Africa who are a not-for profit working in Kenya. In Kenya, the Nia Healthlink run by Zana Africa provides rights-based reproductive health information about menstruation, reproductive health and safety, STIs, relationships, consent, and more. This helpline is staffed by community health staff, rights-based reproductive health information, offers greater caller engagement. Our team identified there is a gap in the market in Ottawa for one centralized hotline to call if you don't know the specific help you need. That is our goal with the Adawe Healthlink. We named out Hotline Adawe which is the word Ottawa is derived from. It comes from the Algonquin word “adawe”, which means “to trade.

Objective(s): Our objective is to help people in need use Ottawa’s healthcare ecosystem. Ottawa and the province of Ontario is marked by an abundance of phone lines for public health. The HealthLink program can aid Ottawa residents in navigating this crowded assistance system. Callers will be referred to the hotline which best serves their needs, while operators pass on critical information to improve service quality.

Approach: After working with Zana Africa's team and on this project, we realized there is not one specific line to call to figure out the help you need. There are various lines for many specific health-related topics. But not one singular line just to call to direct you. That is where our idea for Adawe Health comes from. We really wanted to help the most vulnerable get the help they need and not be discouraged to ask for help if they don't know which specific helpline to call or may be scared to call the wrong one and be sent around in circles to get in contact with someone that can help them.

Potential for Impact: Ottawa’s healthcare ecosystem is marked by an abundance of phone lines providing assistance on various issues reproductive health, mental health, general health, and more. The HealthLink program in Ottawa can aid residents in navigating the crowded assistance system. Callers can call a HealthLink Ottawa operator for a referral to the appropriate hotline in their area. HealthLink operators will pass on critical information to improve service quality. We hope this will lead to a more streamlined system that will result in fewer dropped calls and better health information.