Author: Kyla Barnwell

6. Uphill Battles

Posted on by Kyla Barnwell

Hello everyone!

It has been such a whirlwind of a week (2 weeks?) since I wrote my last blog entry. I have many new updates to share so I’m just going to dive right in.

This past week and a half, Liseth and I have been busy continuing our usability observation project. We wrapped up our note taking from Queen Elizabeth Hospital with a visit to the pediatric oncology ward, pediatric special care ward, and an overnight stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). From speaking with nurses in oncology, we learned that the lack of syringe infusion pumps meant that nurses had to calculate the average amount of fluids and chemotherapy drugs administered per hour. They discussed with us the challenges of manually regulating these dosages for every chemotherapy patient.

While spending the morning in the special care ward, we observed that the bulk of the medical equipment and technologies (oxygen concentrations, bCPAP machines, patient monitors) were concentrated to the high dependency unit (HDU) for special care patients requiring respiratory support. At first, we were surprised to see that all of the patients were in the HDU and the main bay area beds were completely empty. But around 9am, floods of kids and families entered the ward from outside and filled up almost every bed in the main bay area. In the special care ward, patients and their families must gather their belongings and leave their beds to wait outside twice a day while the ward gets cleaned in the morning and afternoon. We learned that many of these main bay patients were typically kids suffering from anemia, malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis. These serious conditions would generally warrant the use medical equipment and monitoring devices, however the limited resources available simply must be used towards the HDU patients.

Here is an example of an improvised solution at Queen Elizabeth. There is a shortage of asthma spacers used to ease of administering aerosolized medication from a metered-dose inhaler for children. A repurposed water bottle with the openings sealed off with duct tape have been made into a makeshift spacer. We witnessed patients using this during our visit to the special care pediatric ward.

Our overnight stay in the NICU at Queen Elizabeth was my first experience spending the night in a hospital setting. I did not really know what to expect, as my hospital expertise stems from episodes of Grey’s Anatomy. At Queens, we noticed that the night shift was when many of the babies get put on and taken off of different medical devices. We saw the setup of oxygen concentrator machines, the preparation for phototherapy treatment, and the administration of various drugs. The night provided excellent insight into how nurses and doctors interact with the technologies and Liseth and I got pages of informational notes from our time here.

Our next overnight visits provided additional insight into the night routine and ward procedures for Zomba Central Hospital and Mulanje District Hospital. The Zomba Central Hospital nursery was quite large; it had 4 separate rooms for high risk patients, low risk patients, patients who were brought in from home, and for kangaroo mother care. 1 continuous monitor was available for all patients to check vital signs so again, Liseth and I watched as a lack of resources continued to influence healthcare and outcomes. Seeing the nurses face difficulties to keep neonates alive was extremely difficult and probably the hardest part of my internship experience so far. Our overnight visit at Mulanje shared many similarities. Here, human resources were scarce as 1 nurse was on the night shift for the entire NICU. No continuous monitor was available for the ward, so vital signs and recording were limited to temperature checks using 1 thermometer for all the neonates.

Pictured is the suction apparatus at Mulanje District Hospital in the NICU. This is one example of the hospital equipment conditions-many donated technologies break easily. With this machine, there is a glove tied around one of the suction tubes to seal off leaking air.

The health inequalities were extremely evident as my mind couldn’t help but draw comparisons to the equipment availability in the United States. After looking more into a holistic economic picture of the country, I learned that Malawi suffers from a climate vulnerability that has widespread influence upon agriculture, energy, forestry, water, gender issues, and human health. In 2015 and 2016, Malawi suffered from a pattern of floods and droughts that impacted over 5 million Malawians with food insecurity. Any extreme floods and droughts of a growing season can be detrimental to the climate-sensitive agriculture sector which contributes to up to 40% of the gross domestic product, employs 85% of the workforce, and supplies 70% of raw materials for manufacturing. With an under-financed health sector, 60% of the country’s total health expenditure needs to be obtained from external sources such as donations.  Reports suggest that in order to break out of a cycle of systematic poverty and dependency, Malawi needs to target the rural poor who depend on mainly agriculture alone for subsistence. Expanding the access and quality of health services available these rural communities in Malawi would help address some of the social, economic, and environmental determinants of health as a means of reducing overall health inequities. (Based on WHO Country Cooperation Strategy: Malawi https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/136059/ccs_mwi.pdf;jsessionid=55B8169FD0E2EFBE8B253B154BF5AF96?sequence=3).

When examining global health, I feel that it is incredibly crucial to consider all influences and factors that contribute to current health situations. Policy reforms targeting healthcare delivery and accessibility systems, human and monetary resource allocation, and overall health development are so vital to helping alleviate morality and disease burdens for a country. Although it can be an uphill battle, tackling global health with a comprehensive economic and policy approach lays the groundwork for sustainable widespread change.

Speaking of uphill battles, our group decided to attempt to climb the highest mountain in Malawi (Mt. Mulanje) on a 3 day adventure during the long holiday weekend! We scaled almost 10,000 ft! Although I didn’t make it all the way to the highest peak, I am proud of myself. I’ve never physically pushed myself so hard before!
Our faces were full of joy after reaching the bottom of the mountain after 3 very tiring days of intense climbing.

 

Our group also had a “cookout” with all of the interns from the Malawi Polytechnic and Malawi University of Science and Technology. We cooked classic hotdogs, fries, and less classic samosas and spring rolls for our meal together at Kabula lodge.

 

Most recently, we visited Satemwa tea plantation and took a tour of the tea fields and tasted a wide variety of their teas.

Thanks for reading! I’ll check in again soon for my last week in Malawi! See you next week!

5. mHub, Moyo, Maternity, and More

Posted on by Kyla Barnwell

Hello everyone!

Presentations are never easy. My nerves get the best of me most times and I often stress over details, frantically writing down every sentence that I need to say. Even after doing countless presentations on our cervical cancer training model project in the Global Health 360 class, I still dread talking in front of groups. It takes a lot of concentration for me to not get flustered or stumble over my words. This past weekend, I saw presentations that inspired me to try to make presenting a more natural practice. We traveled to Lilongwe last Wednesday for the Malawi Innovation Pitch Night, an engineering design competition showcasing a variety of creative engineering ideas across Malawi. The event took place at mHub, a technology and innovation space dedicated to cultivating entrepreneurship. A total of ten inventive solutions to prominent problems in Malawi were presented to a panel of judges. Although I was just helping with the competition and not presenting, hearing the presentations was a great chance to appreciate the immense talent of young Malawian engineers. From a device that would purify water with UV light to a free educational tutoring hotline in order to improve testing scores, teams pitched a variety of impressive technologies. Not only were the technologies advanced, each presenter flowed through the information with grace and ease. They were engaging, educational, and effortless. For the future, I hope I can look at presentations not with a sense of dread, but see them as an opportunity to get more comfortable with public speaking. The entire event was a nice short break from the usual hustle and bustle of hospital wards.

On the bus ride back from Lilongwe, we got a flat tire. On the bright side, the views by the side of the road were incredibly scenic.

Liseth and I are continuing to make our way all over Queen Elizabeth. Most recently, we had observational days within the Moyo House and labor ward of the hospital. Moyo House serves as an extension of the Nutritional Rehabilitation Centre and specifically focuses on providing nutritional support to babies and children in need. Through talking with nurses, we learned that Moyo experiences similar lack of resources issues as some of the other pediatric wards of the hospital. One new problem we encountered was that 90% of the heaters within Moyo are not functional. Patients who are undernourished or malnourished are more prone to hypothermic body temperatures, so they were bundled and wrapped in many blankets in order to keep warm without functioning heaters. In the labor ward, we learned about the heavy workload of the midwives and doctors. With up to 28 patients a day needing to be monitored every hour, it is a very strenuous work environment. The midwives showed us that they must often monitor things like blood pressure and heart rate manually by counting beats per minute. I really enjoyed discussing these issues with the midwives because they were so open and receptive to our questions. They were not afraid to say what needed improvement, which was extremely helpful in gathering ideas for future engineering projects. Some midwives had their own ideas for new engineering devices that could substantially help their day-to-day work. From my observations so far, I think I need to spend more time doing some background research into hospital resource allocation for district and central hospitals in Malawi. Scarcity of resources is a common trend across all of the wards we have observed so far, and I would like to investigate further to find out more about how funds are distributed and what economic, political, or sociological factors play a role in contributing to this problem. I believe it is important to examine this from all sides, as global health problems often do not exist in a vacuum.

An inside look of Moyo House; the ward consists of 36 beds in total with 6 beds for high dependency patients and 4 for isolation patients.

In other news, the Incubaby prototypes have arrived in Blantyre! (However, we recently discovered that the team is working on changing the name, so name TBD). So Liseth and I will begin our second assignment of conducting usability interviews with the device within the week. We have a set of detailed questions to ask nurses about the prototypes. The responses from nurses should really catch any areas for improvement for the team of engineers. It is our hope that this usability interview can be used for all future devices in order to address any human factors issues early in the design process. This will help ensure that all new technologies are actually appropriate for their designated clinical setting and will be implemented regularly for their intended purpose.

The new Incubaby prototype-we learned that the team is working on a new name so from now on I will refer to it as a warming unit.

On Sunday, our group took a trip to Zomba for a short (but rigorous) hike around the Chawe mountain. We ventured to Ku Chawe in the Zomba Plateau and took a guided walk with beautiful scenery and cold waterfalls. I thoroughly enjoyed being surrounded by nature (we even saw baboons and monkeys swinging in the treetops!) and I was very proud that I only tripped once during the steep and rocky descent down the mountain.

                                                                                  Group picture!
One of the waterfalls we visited on the hike. The water was extremely cold but very fresh and clean.

Thanks for reading and I’ll check in again soon! See you next week!

4. “We Make Do With What We Have”

Posted on by Kyla Barnwell

Hello everyone!

I cannot believe another week has flown by. We have about 1 month left in Malawi and there’s still so much to do! The first few days of the week consisted of heavy research and compiling of notes. Liseth and I reviewed some of the fundamental principles for interactions with devices and created a list of key aspects to pay attention to while we observed in the wards of Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital. Along with detailing the day-to-day flow of the neonatal and maternity wards, we are paying extra close attention to the user experience while using a particular technology based on the fundamental principles we have learned. We are also taking note of the proximity of equipment and machines, routines of doctors and nurses, communications/interactions between doctors and nurses, how the ward environment shifts throughout the day, and if there are any improvised solutions utilized by doctors and nurses within the ward.

Our first observational day was spent in the Nursery High Dependency Unit (HDU), where 0 to 6-month-old babies who require less intensive treatment are looked after. We spent the morning shift in this ward, attempting to document all of the activities in as much detail as possible. The ward itself was not very large in size and held about 16 beds all in close proximity to one another. Mothers either sat on low stools next to their baby or on the floor nearby. While we were observing, Pumani bCPAP machines (a Rice 360 technology) and oxygen concentrators were in use, so we got a better understanding of how these devices work to help babies breathe. The ward also had 1 multi-parameter patient monitoring machine that was rotated around in order to check pulse and oxygen saturation of the babies 4 times a day. The most informative information from the day did not come from observations, but from talking to the main clinician for the ward. She told us how efficiently they work even with the limited amount of resources available. It was amazing to hear some of the short-term solutions the ward had utilized in order to get the job done. From using duct tape to seal off the exits of leaky oxygen concentrators to creating a makeshift oxygen splitter from a surgical glove, hearing about the creative equipment improvisations was definitely the most surprising part of the day. The main clinician mentioned how they can really make the most out of every resource here in order to save many lives. In her words, “We do not have much, but we really make do with what we have.”

Our second observational day was spent in the Nursery Intensive Care Unit (NICU) which mostly consisted of patients who were born premature. We observed even more Pumani bCPAP machines in use and even had the opportunity to ask a CPAP nurse some questions about the device. The most glaring observation from this day was how the beds inside radiant warmers were holding 2 babies in 1 bed. At first, Liseth and I thought it was due to the lack of functional oxygen concentrator machines that babies had to be positioned close together. But after speaking to one of the doctors, we learned that the issue is really a shortage of available beds. The clinician described how at times, they must fit up to 4 babies side-by-side together into one radiant warmer, which must pose a serious risk for infections. I plan to investigate into this issue further and determine why incubators (which were available, but not in use) were not being used as an option to place babies.

An inside view of the neonatal intensive care unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Incubators are off to the side and rarely get used except for transportation of babies

Although we worked hard, this week also had very fun moments as well. Dr. Leautaud, Karen, and Raj came from Rice 360 in Houston to visit us in Blantyre! We had a great time sharing meals together and discussing interesting highlights of the internship so far. On Sunday, our group ventured out to the Majete Wildlife Reserve in Chikwawa. We took safari rides through the park and got to see elephants, impalas, warthogs, baboons, crocodiles, and hippos in their natural habitat. It was a wonderful opportunity to get so close to animals that I would usually only get to see inside of a zoo. Our tour guide on the trip was very adventurous and funny. He managed to get a herd of elephants to chase after our safari car! One of my favorite moments from the weekend however was stopping on the side of the road on the way back to admire the breathtaking view of mountains bathing in the sunset. We took many pictures together and were amazed by the beauty of the landscape.
This week our group will be travelling to Lilongwe for an engineering design competition. We will be there from Wednesday until Friday, so I’ll post more updates about the event in the next blog. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next week!

We got up close and personal with many elephants this day! It was amazing!
Us on the safari car at Majete National Park!

 

3. We’ve Hit the Ground Running

Posted on by Kyla Barnwell

Hello everyone! Although its only been 1 week, I have a ton of new experiences to share. In the Rice 360° office at Queen Elizabeth, Liseth and I have begun compiling the introduction and methods section for our reports concerning the use environment of the maternity and neonatal wards. We are currently awaiting permission to have full-time observational access, but we have been able to tour both wards and ask some questions about the day-to-day flow of the areas. While touring, we paid special attention the use of oxygen concentrator machines and incubators. We gained a much deeper understanding of how both of these technologies functioned specifically within the wards. The neonatal ward had many incubators, but they were off to the side and not in use. Through chatting with a nurse, we discovered that these incubators mainly serve for transportation of the babies to and from different wards, as some of the display interfaces of the incubator machines are very complex. As for the oxygen concentrators, we learned that it was difficult to determine whether or not a machine was outputting the correct oxygen levels for a patient. There were a number of oxygen concentrators around where the functionality of the machine was unknown.

The incubators at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. One of my goals while here is to assess the usability of the Rice 360 Incubaby prototype-a new low-cost neonatal incubator.

Incubators seemed to not be in use at Mulanje District Hospital and Zomba Central Hospital as well. In the middle of the week, we took visits to these hospitals within Malawi to tour the neonatal and maternity wards and ask more questions about operations. We learned that Mulanje District Hospital had no incubators at all and instead relied on skin-to-skin contact via Kangaroo Mother Care or radiant warmers to warm up cold neonates. At Zomba Central, radiant warmers were also the preferred heating technology. Speaking to nurses at these hospitals about some of the challenges they faced while on the job was extremely revealing. Many helpful insights came about by asking the nurses what they had to improvise around the ward due to lack of resources. It was incredibly eye-opening to see the unique ways in which the nurses work with what they have in order to care for their patients. The most substantial observation that stuck with me this week was how continuous monitoring systems were rare or nonexistent in these hospitals. This is something that I have never thought about before, as when I envision a hospital, I automatically picture a patient hooked up to machines that are constantly recording and measuring patient vitals. The only ward that had a multi-parameter patient monitor was at Zomba Central. They have 1 machine for the neonatal ward, a ward that can have up to 40 newborns at one time. When it comes to assessing measures such as blood pressure, pulse, heart rate, and temperature, consistent monitoring can make a drastic difference in health outcomes.

Our visit to Mulanje District Hospital-unfortunately Liseth and I missed the group picture 🙁
Mulanje District Hospital is right beside Mount Mulanje-the tallest mountain in Malawi with a height of 3000 meters!

 

Liseth and I are continuing our work with documenting the use environment of Queen Elizabeth this week and we are preparing to conduct our structured interviews with nurses about the Rice 360° Incubaby prototype. Incubaby is a double-walled incubator for neonates that automatically regulates to maintain a baby’s temperature. The prototypes will be arriving at Queen Elizabeth next week and we will be conducting interviews about the device with nurses to assess the usability of the device and identify areas of improvement.  We also look forward to joining the other interns stationed at Malawi Polytechnic as they tour Queen Elizabeth hospital this week. This will give us more chances to learn in-depth information about the technologies implemented in the maternity and neonatal wards. Overall, it has been very cool to think about how machines and equipment actually work within their clinical setting from a Human Factors’ perspective. We really hope the information we are gathering will help Rice 360° develop systems that are appropriate and optimized for use in these hospitals so they can make a real difference in patient care. Thanks for reading and I’ll check in again soon!

 

 

 

Me, having a traditional Malawian meal of chicken, mustard greens, and nsima.
On Sunday, we visited one of Blantyre’s open air markets. There were so many colorful fruits and vegetables. When we asked where to buy chicken, we were led right to a coop with very much alive chickens! Can’t get any fresher than that!

2. Already Learning

Posted on by Kyla Barnwell

Hello everyone!

After many hours on various different planes, we landed in Malawi this past Wednesday with lots of curiosity and jet lag. Our plane experienced a long delay in South Africa, so we got into Lilongwe later than expected and spent the night in the capital city before heading to Blantyre by bus. We met Mr. Richard, our driver and Malawi guide for our first days in the country. He helped us with the plethora of luggage, directed us to food and took us to get phones so we could contact anxious parents. On Thursday we finally arrived at Kabula Lodge in Blantyre, our home for the next 7 weeks. The first thing I noticed about the lodge was the breathtaking view. As you walk through the entryway, you are greeted by a beautiful mountain range surrounded by green trees. I think I will love waking up in the morning and walking out into sunshine, fresh air, and purple flowers.

The view from Kabula Lodge at dusk.

The first lesson I learned happened pretty early. I was attempting to charge my phone on Thursday night and pulled out my power strip. As soon as I plugged the power strip into the wall of our room, I heard a pop and the lights immediately went out. Shocked, I looked at my roommate and we began laughing. She told me that my power strip probably used too high voltage for the wall sockets here. A little embarrassed, I decided to walk out and tell the other interns about my mistake. Unfortunately, that’s when I realized my mistake had also caused the power in the entire lodge to go out as well. A lot more embarrassed, I apologized profusely to everyone. Luckily, the power outage was short, and the lights were back on within 15 minutes. Since that incident, I have gotten a new power strip that has not caused another blackout (so far).
The second lesson I learned was a lot less surprising: they call Malawi the warm heart of Africa for a reason. On Friday, we decided to visit Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital and the University of Malawi Polytechnic Institute and introduce ourselves to the people we would be working with. We walked through long and winding hallways until we eventually found our way into the Rice 360 office in Queen Elizabeth. There we met a few of the very welcoming individuals who work there. They were very happy that we had stopped by to say hello and greeted us with open arms. Next, we stopped by the Polytechnic Institute for more visiting and introductions. At the Polytechnic design studio, we met the Malawian interns. Not only did they take the time to give us a detailed tour of the campus, but they also offered us a lot of great tips and advice for our stay here. They even escorted us to the nearest grocery stores and helped us get the best deals on food and household goods for the lodge. They were incredibly kind and caring in every single way. I think that we will form some great bonds and memories with this amazing group. I am genuinely looking forward to starting our work on Monday and getting to know them better.

On Saturday, we decided to venture outside of Kabula Lodge and explore the town a bit more. We visited a local mall and ate a meal together. Then we walked to Kwa Haraba Art Café. The café features very vibrant paintings and beautiful African masks. There are poetry readings there every Wednesday. I think the readings will be a good way to get a small taste of Malawian culture and art.
This brings me to the third lesson: how much I still do not know. Although I do feel like a lost tourist almost all of the time (which is to be expected), I have realized that my confusion stems from more than just directional and linguistic challenges. So far, I have seen the markets and countryside. I have walked through the streets and stores. However, a large element is still missing. The country is rich with a vast history that I am mostly blind to. I am very aware of my ignorance about this land and its people. One of my personal goals while here will be to learn as much as possible to try to combat some of the unfamiliarity. On Sunday, we visited the museum of Malawi and I am extremely glad that we did. Learning more about Malawian culture and traditions revealed much about the values and society of this beautiful country. The exhibitions told the story of the people of Malawi from prehistoric times up to modern day. It was a powerful testament to a very proud history.

Kwa Haraba Art Cafe.
An exhibit in the Museum of Malawi detailing Malawi becoming a Republic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

An exhibit in the Museum of Malawi depicting the end of the slave trade.
All of us Rice 360+ DIT (Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology in Tanzania) interns in front of the Rice 360 office at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow, I will start my first day working at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital. Liseth and I will begin with touring the hospital and orienting ourselves with the wards and rooms. We were given instructions to document the hospital environment in thorough detail. We hope to meet more of the incredible nurses and doctors, and learn many more lessons. Stay tuned for our observations and adventures in the week to come. Thanks for reading and I’ll check in again soon!

-Kyla

1. First Weeks Before Departure, Working in the OEDK

Posted on by Kyla Barnwell

Hello everyone! Welcome to my Rice 360 Blog!

This is my first blog post, so let me introduce myself. My name is Kyla Barnwell and I am a rising junior at Jones college majoring in Cognitive Sciences and minoring in Global Health Technology (GLHT). I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel to Blantyre, Malawi with Rice 360 this summer and we leave in a little over 3 weeks!!! It’s finally happening! The closer our departure date arrives (June 3rd), the more excited and nervous I am to start this amazing experience. Between getting all of our technologies and materials ready for departure and making sure all the other affairs (flights, vaccines, passports) are in order, I have been really busy getting ready to leave.

These past two weeks, our team of Malawi interns have been working in the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen (OEDK) on Rice’s campus building and prototyping the necessary materials in order to make some of the technologies we will be taking over to the Polytechnic Institute and the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital. We are taking a slew of technologies including: a mechanism to lock IV drip rates, an automatic bleach sterilization machine, a neonatal temperature monitor for Kangaroo Mother Care, a training model for determining the Ballard Score Gestational Age, a cervical thermocoagulation training model, low-cost ostomy bags, a low-cost oxygen monitoring system, and reusable phototherapy masks.

One of the technologies we are taking is one that my own team has personally designed which I am very proud of. During one of our classes last semester, our team developed a model cervix that can be used train providers in a new cervical cancer treatment technique called thermocoagulation, which is essentially burning any cervical tissue lesions found on the cervix that might develop into cervical cancer. Our team worked extremely hard developing this model and we are amazed to see it actually going over to places like Malawi, Brazil, and Mozambique to get more design feedback and eventually, be used to train providers in this potentially life saving technique. At the OEDK, we worked on 3D printing the molds used make the model cervices and once our ordered materials arrive, we will get to work developing some prototypes very quickly in the next few days. The Brazil team is looking to take around 5 model cervices while we will be mainly making around 20 model cervices prototypes when we are in Malawi. I have also had the chance to learn more about 3D printing software, laser cutting, and other cool OEDK technologies that I have really not had previous exposure to. Since I am not in an engineering major, it has been very cool to watch and learn how to use some of these advanced prototyping tools and software. It was also really cool to learn how to develop a lot of the other innovative technologies we are bringing. I had been exposed to them through peer presentations in our GLHT course, but actually hands-on learning and seeing how each part is made and how it works has been so much more informative. All of the other interns have been really helpful in every project and I have really loved bonding with everyone at dinners and team meeting luncheons.

Here is a picture of the reusable model cervix my team has designed to teach cervical thermocoagulation. The model cervix can withstand temperatures up to 180 C and changes color when exposed to heat, which mimics what an actual cervix does when in contact with the thermocoagulator probe.

While in Malawi, Liseth (another Malawi intern) and I will be working together at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital. Our project mentor, Dr. Claudia Aceyman, has tasked us with some very important assignments concerning valuable human factors work and data collection. While in the hospital, Liseth and I are going to be documenting the use environment pretty extensively. This means we will be taking notes on hospital dynamics and interactions, how the environment changes from the perspectives of a doctor versus a nurse versus a patient or family member, and of course, looking into how users interact with our designed technologies and assessing how we can improve in order to best fit the needs of the user. Liseth and I have been reading a ton of articles, journals, and books on human factors research in order to decide how we can best compile and organize all of our findings. We are also looking to develop a survey/interview format that can be used to gauge usability for the Incubaby Neonatal Incubator technology (but also can be applied to other technologies as well). We are brainstorming appropriate questions to ask users while they interact with the technology. We will need to take note specifically of human behavior, abilities, limitations, cognitive resources, and other characteristics to the design of systems, tasks, and equipment/technologies that we are bringing.

Between prototyping, packing, ensuring I have the right anti-malaria pills and vaccines, and the upcoming 15 hour flight from JFK to Johannesburg,  it seems as though I already have a lot in store for me in these upcoming weeks. I definitely have a lot more in store for me once I arrive in Malawi. This trip will be the farthest from home I have ever traveled in my life, so I am a little nervous. I really hope things go very smoothly but there’s always small hiccups to be prepared for when traveling. I am glad I get to see my family back home in Atlanta, Georgia for a little while before I head off abroad. I’ve really missed a good home-cooked meal. Stay tuned for more updates!