Asha Ek Hope Foundation: Asha Ek Hope Foundation

Credits & Description:

Media: Interactive
Category: Charities & appeals
Link: http://www.blinktospeak.com
Client: Asha Ek Hope Foundation / NeuroGen Brain & Spine Institute
Agency: TBWA/India
Country: India
Synopsis:
TBWAIndia launches "Blink To Speak" to help patients with communication challenges. There are millions of patients who survive for years with no power to express. TBWA India has set out to solve this problem with Blink To Speak: the world’s first eye language for patients who have an alert mind but a paralysed body. Blink To Speak was conceptualised, designed and developed by TBWA for a non-profit, Asha Ek Hope Foundation, and NeuroGen Brain & Spine Institute. After months of research with doctors, patients and caregivers the eye language guide was launched last week. An estimated 60 million patients around the world live for many years with ALS, MNDs, spinal cord injuries, brain strokes and partial paralysis. And their biggest battle against these fatal disorders is the simple act of communication. The alternative methods of communication currently available, like the E-TRAN board, are very tedious. And the hi-tech assistive tools are unaffordable for most. Medical advances have been able to give them a longer life. But that life is stifled by silence. They struggle every day to communicate the simplest things to their families or caregivers. Even with an absolutely alert mind, they are at the mercy of others. Accepting what they receive with no power to express. But with a paralysed body there is one part that doesn’t betray most patients till the every end. The eyes. Using the power of eyes, the team at TBWA devised a way to help these patients. Blink To Speak uses 50 simple eye movements to build an extensive eye language. They assigned simple messages commonly needed by patients to basic combinations of eye movements. They created very easy to use sets of eye actions using the 8 alphabets of the eye language - Shut, Blink, Left, Right, Up, Down, Roll and Wink.