Mapping Child Malnutrition and Measuring Efficiency of Community Healthcare Workers through Location Based Games in India
2026-04-08 • Human-Computer Interaction
Human-Computer InteractionComputers and Society
AI summaryⓘ
The authors studied how community healthcare workers (CHWs) in India can better collect child health measurements using a game instead of traditional methods. They co-designed a game to help CHWs gather data over different locations and times, then tested it with two groups. The game made the measuring process faster and kept CHWs more interested compared to usual methods. This work shows that involving users in designing tools and using games can improve health data collection.
Community Healthcare WorkersAnthropometric dataCrowdsourcingCo-designResearch through DesignGeospatial dataGamificationData collectionEngagementPublic health
Authors
Arka Majhi, Aparajita Mondal, Satish B. Agnihotri
Abstract
In India, Community Healthcare Workers (CHWs) serve as critical intermediaries between the state and beneficiaries, including pregnant mothers and children. Effective planning and prioritization of care and services necessitate the collection of accurate health data from the community. Crowdsourcing child anthropometric data through CHWs could establish a valuable repository for evidence-based decision-making and service planning. However, existing platforms often fail to maintain CHWs' engagement over time and across different spatial contexts, resulting in spatially misrepresented and outdated data. This study addresses these challenges by conducting a co-design exercise to develop innovative methods for collecting anthropometric data over time and space. The exercise involved analyzing data to create hotspot and density distribution maps. We implemented a trial of the developed game with two groups (n=94 per group) from various states across India, comparing the game-based and non-game-based data collection methods. Our findings reveal that the game-based approach significantly improved measuring efficiency (p<0.05) and demonstrated superior engagement and retention compared to the non-game-based method. This research contributes to the expanding literature on co-design and Research through Design (RtD) methodologies for developing geospatial games, highlighting their potential to enhance data collection practices and improve engagement among CHWs.