Plantasmed: a mobile application to promote the rational use of medicinal plants in Brazil’s countryside based on participatory HCI design and popular education for health

Abstract

Family farming is responsible for producing most of the food consumed in Brazil, occupying an important role in national development and at the reduction of social inequalities. The sustainability of these family communities depends heavily on the range of primary health care. The rational use of medicinal plants is recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an important element of healing practices and nutrition education. The development of applications for mobile devices can contribute to both the rational use of medicinal plants and herbal medicines as to the health sustainability of communities of family farming, therefore contributing to the improvement of the quality of primary health care in ethnic and traditional communities and to the preservation of popular knowledge. This paper proposes a methodology for the development of applications for mobile devices geared to popular health education based on participatory human-computer interface (HCI) design, seeking to improve the quality of basic health care by aiding communitary health agents and popular communities at health education for the rational use of medicinal plants. As a case study we developed a basic architecture and a prototype for Android, named PlantasMED, from the results of participatory workshops in a rural area of the North Forest in the State of Pernambuco, Brazil. The participatory workshops were designed in order to promote the methodology of participatory HCI design.