Theme | Role of Government in Healthcare |
Relevant Grades | Class 7, 8 & 9 |
Key Learning Objectives |
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Session Duration | 1 Hour (Approximately) |
- THE MISSION
You are in a world where healthcare for all is something that is unknown and the rich people pay millions of gold and valuables for proper services and treatment. Many people who aren’t as rich are not able to get any treatment leading to severe diseases or even death. You have been assigned the role of bringing in quality healthcare, equal rates and services in public and private healthcare and also preventing diseases by the protectors of the realm. The three level complex game should be strategically played in such a way that all the steps of the game are clearly and strategically played and you will have to fight against various obstacles to win the game and get 300 points.
- CONCEPTS
- What is health?
Health means our ability to remain free of illness and injuries. Apart from disease, there are other factors that affect our health such as dullness, inactiveness, anxiety or being scared for long stretches of time.
- Healthcare in India
To prevent and treat illnesses, we need appropriate healthcare facilities such as health centres, hospitals, laboratories for testing, ambulance services, blood banks, etc. These facilities can provide the care and services that a patient need. To run such facilities, we need health workers, nurses, qualified doctors and other health professionals who can advise, diagnose and treat illnesses. We also need medicines and equipment that are necessary for treating patients.
India has a large number of doctors, clinics and hospitals. Public Healthcare System is a system of hospitals and health centres run by the government. It has the ability to look after the health of a large section of its population scattered over hundreds of thousands of villages. However, even after having public healthcare systems the government is not able to provide proper healthcare facilities to people.
- Public and Private Health Care Services
The health care facilities are divided into 2 categories:
- Public Health Services
- Private Health Facilities
Public Health Services
The public health service is a chain of health centres and hospitals run by the government. They are linked together so that they cover both rural and urban areas.
At the village level, there are health centres where there is a nurse and a village health worker. They are trained in dealing with common illnesses and work under the supervision of doctors at the Primary Health Centre (PHC). Such a centre covers many villages in a rural area.
At the district level, there is a District Hospital that supervises all the health centres.
Large cities have many government hospitals and also specialised government hospitals.
The health service is called ‘public’ for many reasons as mentioned below:
- The government has established hospitals and health centres for everyone.
- The medical facilities are provided at a low cost so that the poor can also seek treatment.
- The function of Public health service is to take action to prevent the spread of diseases such as TB, malaria, jaundice, cholera, diarrhea, chikungunya, etc. The government must safeguard the Right to Life of every person. According to our Constitution, it is the primary duty of the government to ensure the welfare of the people and provide health care facilities to all.
Private Health Facilities
There is a wide range of private health facilities that exist in our country. There are hospitals and nursing homes that are privately owned. Private health facilities are not owned or controlled by the government. Patients have to pay a lot of money for every service that they use.
- Healthcare and equality: Is adequate healthcare available to all?
In India, private services are increasing fast but public services are the same. There is no increase in the public service. So, people have access to mainly private services. The cost of private services is very high. Some private services encourage incorrect practices to earn more money.
For a middle-class family, medical expenses cause hardship. For the poor, every illness in the family is a cause of great anxiety and distress. The expenses on illness make their situation even worse.
What can be done?
It is the responsibility of the government to provide quality healthcare services to all its citizens, especially the poor and the disadvantaged. It is important to work on public health facilities as well as on basic amenities in order to improve the health situation of our people. Let us take two examples to understand this in a better way.
1) The Kerala experience
In 1996, the Kerala government allocated 40% of the total Kerala budget to the panchayats. This made it possible for a village to make sure that proper planning was done for water, food, women’s development and education. Health centres were also improved.
2) The Costa Rican approach
Costa Rica is considered to be one of the healthiest countries in Central America. Several years ago, Costa Rica took a decision not to have an army. This helped the Costa Rican government to spend the money that the army would have used on health, education and other basic needs of the people. The Costa Rican government provides basic services and amenities to all Costa Ricans.
GAME DESIGN
- Problem statement
You are in a world where healthcare for all is something that is unknown and the rich people pay millions of gold and valuables for proper services and treatment. Many people who aren’t as rich are not able to get any treatment leading to severe diseases or even death. You have been assigned the role of bringing in quality healthcare, equal rates and services in public healthcare and also preventing diseases by the protectors of the realm. The three level complex game should be strategically played in such a way that all the steps of the game are clearly and strategically played and you will have to fight against various obstacles to win the game and get 300 points.
- Game design overview
You are in a world where healthcare for all is something that is unknown and the rich people pay millions of gold and valuables for proper services and treatment. Many people who aren’t as rich are not able to get any treatment leading to severe diseases or even death. You have been assigned the role of bringing in quality healthcare, equal rates and services in public and private healthcare and also preventing diseases by the protectors of the realm. The three level complex game should be strategically played in such a way that all the steps of the game are clearly and strategically played and you will have to fight against various obstacles to win the game and get 300 points.
- How to design the game?
- Step I
You are in a world where healthcare for all is something that is unknown and the rich people pay millions of gold and valuables for proper services and treatment. Many people who aren’t as rich are not able to get any treatment leading to severe diseases or even death. There are various agencies that belong to the Government which have been taking a lot of more and not providing facilities in hospitals. Imagine, you have been assigned the role of a healthcare specialist, who has been given the responsibility of constructing hospitals and preventing any form of malpractices or problems.
Hint: The people who oppose free healthcare and presence of hospitals and practitioners who follow witchcraft and other forms of superstitious practices will try to prevent you from building the hospital and also try to destroy it. The gamer has to strategically prevent all of the enemies mentioned and build 10 hospitals within a span of 20 minutes and you gain 20 points for every hospital that is being built. If the hospitals are not built within 20 minutes, the hospitals that are being built by the gamer will start to break into pieces, destroying more than 60%of the structure every 10 minutes.
- Step II
The next step of the process involves ensuring that all the facilities are available in the hospital and on whether it is provided free of charge and patients are taken care of.
Hint: The gamer has to employ at least 5 people and should take care of all the happenings in the 10 hospitals. For every patient that has not been given proper medical care or has been asked money during the process of treatment, the gamer will lose 20% of the points gained during the previous step of the process and also lose the honorary badge the gamer will win. You gain another 200 points on completion of this step.
- Step III
The final level of the game involves providing all people important vaccinations to everyone in the world
Hint: The vaccinations have to be genuine and the enemies may try to mix the vaccines with harmful substances that should be avoided. If anyone suffers from any problem, the gamer loses the 400 points gained during the previous steps.
- ASSESSMENT
Learning Objective Based Evaluation (0-1) | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | ||
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Higher Order Thinking Skills | Problem Solving | Critical Thinking | Innovation | Creativity | ||
Q5 | Q6 | Q7 | Q8 | Q9 | Q10 | |
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Learning Objective Based Evaluation Total Score | /4 |
Higher Order Thinking Skills Total Score | /8 |
Total Score | /12 |
Learning Objective Based Evaluation
1 point Questions:
Q1. What did the Costa Rican Government do?
- Costa Rica took a decision not to have an army. This helped the Costa Rican government to spend the money that the army would have used on health, education and other basic needs of the people.
- Costa Rica has no government and follows monarchy
- None of the above
Q2. What happened in Kerala in 1960?
- Allotted 40% of total budgets to Panchayats. This made it possible for a village to make sure that proper planning was done for water, food, women’s development and education.
- Kerala is the fifth highest literate state in India
- None of the above
Q3. Which of the following statements are true about private healthcare?
- Private health facilities are not owned or controlled by the government
- Private healthcare facilities are free of cost
- None of the above
Q4. Which of the following statements are false about public healthcare?
- The public health service is a chain of health centres and hospitals run by the government
- The public hospitals are of low cost and provide various medical services
- The public healthcare facilities are present in only urban areas
- None of the above
Evaluation of HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills)
Identification of the Problem Statement:
Q5. What is the goal of the game that you have designed? (1 point)
_______________________________________________________________
Q6. Does the game designed solve the problem? Justify your answer. (1 point)
_______________________________________________________________
Solution of the Problem Statement:
Q7. What are the ways in which public healthcare facilities can be improved in our country? (1 point)
_______________________________________________________________
Q8. What are the ways in which private healthcare facilities, treatments and their costs can be maintained? (1 point)
_______________________________________________________________
Innovation in the Problem Statement:
Q9. What are the innovative aspects of the solution for which the game is designed? (2 points)
_______________________________________________________________
Creativity in the Game Design:
Q10. Describe and explain the unique design elements used in the game. (2 points)
_______________________________________________________________
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