AMRIT - Early Childhood Developemnt (ECD) Service

The Early Childhood Development (ECD) Initiative by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) aims to nurture the cognitive capital of the country by enabling young children to attain their fullest potential. The initiative focuses on the critical period of brain development, which includes the 270 days of pregnancy and the first two years of the child's life, also known as the first 1,000 days.

Features of Early Childhood Developemnt (ECD)

• Focus on the first 1,000 days: Recognize the critical period of brain development and emphasize the importance of interventions during this period to promote physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development.

• Communicate with mothers and families: Acknowledge the vital role of mothers in the holistic development of their children. Develop simple, effective, and personalized messages to communicate with mothers and other family members, highlighting their significant impact on the child's overall development.

• Reinforce messages through multiple channels: Establish a unified approach by involving other health providers like ASHA, ANM, and medical officers to reiterate the same messages to caregivers. Consistent information is essential to ensure that parents receive comprehensive guidance.

• Provide credible advice: Train resources in the field of early childhood development to deliver information and counseling through the ECD Call Centre. The trained personnel will provide credible advice, enhancing the caregivers' trust in the information provided.

• Offer personalized advice: Utilize the interactive platform of the ECD Call Centre to provide personalized advice to parents based on their specific needs and their child's requirements. Building on existing positive practices, suggest additional actions that caregivers can take to promote their child's development.

• Enhance caregivers' knowledge: Emphasize the importance of caregivers' knowledge about early childhood development. Provide them with information and resources to better understand their child's developmental needs and milestones.

• Boost caregivers' confidence: Empower caregivers to feel confident in their abilities to support their child's development. Encourage them to take simple but meaningful actions that contribute positively to their child's growth.

• Collaborate with other initiatives: Complement existing initiatives such as LaQshya, Homebased Care for Young Child, and the Comprehensive New Born Screening under RBSK. By working collaboratively, ensure a comprehensive and integrated approach to early childhood development.

• Foster a nature-friendly environment: Promote the importance of creating a stimulating, loving, and protective care environment for children. Encourage activities that connect children with nature and promote their overall well-being.

• Continuously evaluate and improve: Regularly assess the effectiveness of the ECD initiative and the ECD Call Centre. Seek feedback from parents and caregivers to identify areas for improvement and refine the messages and services provided.

Building From Source

This microservice is built using Java and the Spring Boot framework, with MySQL as the underlying database. Before building the ECD module, ensure you have the following prerequisites:

• JDK 17
• Maven
• Redis
• Spring Boot V2
• MySQL

To build the ECD module from source, follow these steps:

1. Clone the repository to your local machine.
2. Install the required dependencies and build the module using the following command:

• Execute the following command:

  mvn clean install
  

3. You can copy ecd_example.properties to ecd_local.properties and edit the file accordingly. The file is under src/main/environment folder.
4. Run the spring server with local configuration mvn spring-boot:run -DENV_VAR=local

• Open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:8080/swagger-ui.html#!/

Usage

All the features of the ECD module have been exposed as REST endpoints. For detailed information on how to use the service, refer to the SWAGGER API specification.

With the ECD module, you can efficiently manage all aspects of your telemedicine application, ensuring seamless remote healthcare services for patients and collaboration among healthcare professionals.