TITLE:
The Application of Wearable Technologies to Improve Healthcare in the World’s Poorest People
AUTHORS:
James A. Levine
KEYWORDS:
Wearable Technology, Consumer Behavior, Poverty, Entrepreneurship
JOURNAL NAME:
Technology and Investment,
Vol.8 No.2,
May
26,
2017
ABSTRACT: Wearable technologies could be influential for improving healthcare in underserved areas. Wearable sensors are straightforward to develop, have low production costs and the methods for processing high volumes of data are advanced. Here we examine the application of wearable technology for improving health in three poverty-related scenarios. The first is for diabetes prevention in Mexico City. The second is for medical care in the Kibera slum in Nairobi and the third is for the delivery of “health kits” to refugees. The analysis affirms that investment is worthwhile in mass scalable wearable technologies directed at the half of the world’s population who live in poverty.