Nakuru County government has employed innovative digital health solution dubbed ‘Empower Health’, in an effort to improve on primary health care delivery for non-communicable Diseases (NCDs).
Governor Lee Kinyanjui cited diabetes and hypertension as the most prevalent chronic diseases that have been recorded in the county and said to be the major causes of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality rates in the population within the County.
The governor however assured that the fight against diabetes and hypertension diseases had been intensified through the introduction of the Empower Health concept which he said has recorded improvements in dealing with disease complications.
The County Director for Administration and Planning Dr Benedict Osore explained that the digital Empower Health system would enable patients to access regular blood pressure and blood glucose checks at home on the mobile applications.
He further said the mobile apps would help users to track their glucose and blood pressure data, integrate with a glucose meter or home blood pressure cuff for easy data transfer and generate reports summarizing the data for the health care team.
In addition, Dr Osore pointed out that the Empower Health would also provide integrated, facility-level and community-level tools and information geared towards improving disease awareness, support screening and referral activities so as to reduce burden of the non-communicable diseases.
“The digital health tools will provide members with contextual, customized in-app or on-demand coaching about self-care with appropriate prompts to contact their healthcare providers if and when need be,” said Dr. Osore.
Speaking during the Empower Health System launch in Nakuru, Dr. Osore said the county government in partnership with the Ministry of Health, Novo Nordisk and Medtronic Labs has trained more than 60 healthcare providers who were currently monitoring patients online.
Research has indicated that diabetes and hypertension have been a major challenge in the fight against Covid 19 as those suffering from the ailment were more likely to get severe symptoms and complications. In view of this, such patients need to have their conditions managed well and monitored regularly.
By Esther Mwangi and Chepkemoi Charloth
