Image
Fast, affordable Internet access for all.
Help Craig Settles Save Lives with Telehealth
By
on
In 2014, industry analyst and consultant Craig Settles experienced a stroke which lead him down a period of recovery which he discussed last year when we interviewed him about telehealth for our podcast. The experience inspired Craig to consider how broadband could help others avoid the same situation with preventative telehealth applications. Now, Craig is attacking hypertension in several of Cleveland, Ohio's local barbershops and hair salons.
You can also help save lives with broadband when you contribute to the GoFundMe campaign to finance the pilot program.
Hypertension is A Silent Killer
As the American Heart Association reports, more than 40 percent of African Americans have high blood pressure. Often it develops earlier in life for this group, increasing the chance of heart disease and stroke. Urban Kutz, whose clientele includes many African Americans, has provided periodic blood pressure screening for some time, but Craig and owner Waverly Willis want to take it to the next level.
"I find at least 90% of my customers have high blood pressure, and many don’t know about the dangers of hypertension," says Willis.
These are the new community anchor institutions to drive both telehealth and broadband adoption. Willis explains, "Barbers and hairdressers are part-time marriage counselors, psychiatrists, spiritual advisers, and expert listeners. So many customers listen to our medical advice.”
Craig plans on launching pilot programs in barbershops and hair salons in five communities. He'll work with participants on:
[H]ow to use telehealth and community owned broadband in a pilot project to attack hypertension (high blood pressure), the leading cause of strokes. These shops will connect USB-blood pressure monitors to telehealth platforms via community networks to screen, educate, and motivate their customers.
The pilot program will last six weeks and will include:
- Recruiting and training initial five barber shops and salons
- Providing free telehealth software for customers and doctors
- PR assistance to locally publicize the pilots
- Summary report on the pilots' results
- Conducting a PR campaign to launch national recruiting drive
- Writing and producing a How-To guide to support national effort
After the pilot concludes, Craig envisions the barbershops and salons as examples that will stimulate broadband expansion in the neighborhoods to allow locals the opportunity to take telehealth even farther.
You can contribute to the campaign to help prevent more heart attacks and stroke in Cleveland and launch this community based proactive telehealth initiative when you contribute to Craig's GoFundMe campaign, "Help Me Hunt For the Silent Killer - Hypertension!"
Read more about the campaign and donate to the project here.
Learn more about Craig's telehealth work at his website and listen to our conversation with him about telehealth in December 2018, for episode 336 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast.
Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay
Geoterm
Related Stories
LA Leads Way In Push To Leverage FCC’s New Digital Discrimination Rules For Local Action
Los Angeles becomes first city in the nation to define digital discrimination at the local level in the wake of the new rules issued by the Federal Communications Commission to prevent digital discrimination. Other cities from Oakland to Cleveland are also leveraging the new FCC rules for local action.
Cleveland's Two-Pronged Attack To Make ‘Worse-Connected City’ Label A Relic Of The Past
Cleveland, Ohio is putting the finishing touches on an ambitious plan to build a citywide open access fiber network–and deliver affordable fixed wireless service–at minimal cost to city residents. The double-edged proposal aims to bring both meaningful broadband competition–and lower rates–to the long neglected city of 1.7 million people. DigitalC will spend 18 months building a fixed wireless broadband network, while SiFi builds citywide fiber network.
Building for Digital Equity Event Encore
Today’s Building for Digital Equity (#B4DE) webinar – "Building Connected Communities: Sustaining the Momentum" – was packed with practical information and inspiration on how local communities are pushing the digital equity movement forward.
Next B4DE Event This Tuesday: Building Connected Communities, Sustaining Momentum
Lots happening for Digital Inclusion Week 2023, which kicks off this Monday. One free online event that will be of particular interest for digital equity advocates across the nation is the next installment of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) and ILSR’s Building for Digital Equity (#B4DE) webinar. The popular virtual gathering will be held this Tuesday, Oct. 3, from 12 noon to 1:15 pm ET and will focus on the DIW-inspired theme: “Building Connected Communities: Sustaining Momentum.”
Save The Date: Next Building For Digital Equity Event Set For Digital Inclusion Week
With Digital Inclusion Week (DIW) less than a month away, ILSR and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) are gearing up for the next Building for Digital Equity (#B4DE) event on October 3. The popular virtual gathering will be held from 12 noon to 1:15 pm ET and will focus on the DIW-inspired theme: “Building Connected Communities: Sustaining Momentum.”
Dublin, Ohio, altafiber Strike Public Private Partnership For Citywide Fiber Network
The city of Dublin, Ohio has struck a public private partnership with altafiber (formerly known as Cincinnati Bell) to build a new citywide fiber network city leaders hope will finally deliver the kind of affordable, next-generation broadband access Dublin’s 50,000 residents have long been clamoring for. Construction of the city network is expected to begin in Spring of 2024, with every premise in Dublin passed by a 10 gigabit per second (Gbps) capable network within three years.