ADAwell: Wellbeing DAO

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

Problem 1 - Wellbeing resources are not reliable

Instead of using specialized websites most people use general search engines when looking for health information. There are portals that monetize user attention (via ads, sponsorships) under the wellbeing content. Read, GOOP: What a Mess. Some may even contain false medical information that misleads consumers into purchasing "snake oil" medical treatments.  

Problem 2 - Health-care today: necessary but not sufficient

Modern medicine waits for a disease to arise before optimizing treatments. The medical system will always need to attend to patients in need of lifesaving treatments. A complementary focus and holistic approach however will improve quality of life.

This excerpt from True Age by Morgan Levine, PhD exemplifies the problem:

‘’Take our health care system’s present approach to diabetes as an example. While many people will have their fasting blood sugar (HbA1c) measured during routine physicals, there is often no discussion about disease prevention until a person is diagnosed with borderline diabetes. Usually, if you are below the cutoff, your doctor will say, “Your blood sugar looks good!” But aside from offering reassurance, physicians should also be actively helping their patients keep their levels as far as possible from the magic lines that differentiate nondiabetic from borderline and diabetic.’’

Problem 3 - More content, less time

Science popularization is on the rise as it has never been before. But, not everyone has time or interest to read medical journals and magazines, listen to 2-3 hour long podcasts, or consume other kinds of science materials. 

ADAwell is the platform that tackles these problems. The full vision of ADAwell make all three functions it has to operate:

• Function 1 - Curation & Synthesis (Performing function in this proposal)
• Function 2 - Events & Challenges (Performing in the future)
• Function 3 - Support (Performing in the future)

This proposal is the proof of concept for ADAwell. It aims to implement a part of Function 1 - Curation & Synthesis, and kickstart the ADAwell community and DAO. Other functions will be implemented in the future, with a larger team.

Curation & Synthesis kickstarts the ADAwell platform. 

The platform provides curated and synthesized health information in three formats:

• Toolkits are useful, applicable tools (checklists, protocols, tips) that help you optimize your health and wellbeing. (Example: Eye Health Toolkit)
• Education/Health literacy is curated and up-to-date health resources/databases from fields like human biology, anatomy, longevity and geroscience. In this format, we provide up-to-date knowledge that not only can help prevent diseases but to optimize health, and there is always room for improvement when it comes to maximizing our biological health. This curation will be as short as possible giving the main idea with the sources. See some examples from podcastnotes.org, longevity insider
• Community Requests. This format allows the Cardano community to request a curation for a specific topic. The aim is to provide mechanisms for the needed knowledge in real-time to the community. 

How do we Curate & Synthesize

• curate materials from trusted sources, bring together, organize and structure in a useful way;
• synthesize documents, combine, summarize, and remove any possible duplications and contradictions;
• update knowledge in the platform constantly;
• validate by an expert or a community of practice.

More about Toolkits

Toolkit’s goals vary from maximizing mental health to helping prevent diseases. Here are some examples:

1 - Preventive Health: Making screenings and treatments a priority, you are taking the necessary steps toward living a healthier life. Of course, you can Google screening and find information about the necessary examinations you need to take. However, as health optimization ADAwell’s number one priority we won’t only provide necessary screening Toolkits but additional Toolkits that will consider more specific situations and provide detailed plans. With Curation and Synthesis>Toolkits>Preventive health you can decide and answer to such questions below:

• Ex: You need to have X screening, but what if you are pregnant atm.
• In X case, an appointment with a doc should be made every X months/days. Ex: you have a gum disease: see your periodontist every X months/days, or do X procedure in X/every X days.
• You have dry eyes, you may have the Sjongren’s syndrome or it’s just caused by long screen times. 

2 - How to read labels, keep personal health records, communicate with your doctor, listen to your body signals, etc.

3 - When and How (Protocols) will help you with diet optimization. Tweet related to this.

• Foods to eat/not eat at the same meal. (Why eating fish and dairy together at the same meal is toxic?)
• Cooking techniques. (Why is broccoli subjected to different cooking techniques, and what is the optimal technique?)
• Foods to avoid before/after X event. (Foods to eat/not eat before/after x procedure)
• Glucose management, sugar crash prevention.
• Jessie Inchauspé’s work is a perfect example of this.
• Nutrient/Intestinal absorption (movement of nutrients from the small intestine into the blood supply)
• The best time to take ‘‘X’’ supplement. (Ex: Probiotic Supplement. First thing in the morning, optimal before eating when the gut has been "rested" overnight and there is less gut fermentation going on.)
• Supplement-Supplement interaction. (B1+B12=allergic reaction, or don't combine Vit-D with Vit-C, A, or E; the reason is explained, reliable source is provided)
• Food-Supplement interaction. (Strawberry+iron supplement=increases absorption of iron)
• Food-Food interaction. (Coffee after steak=coffee and other caffeinated drinks can reduce iron absorption.)
• Food-Medication interaction. Prevent/reduce/control side effects of the medicine. (Harmful interactions: alcohol, nicotine, caffeine. Don't smoke cigarettes while you are taking oral contraceptives, or don’t mix alcohol with certain medications)

Community building 

ADAwell is designed to be a community driven effort. With this proposal, we start the ADAwell community with a Discord server. We are in contact with wellbeing and medical experts. We will invite these individuals to become members to kickstart the community, share the knowledge we generate in Curation & Synthesis through Twitter, Instagram, and in the Catalyst community to expand the community.

The aim at this stage is to gather like minded individuals with a passion for science communication and wellbeing. From there, we build a core team who wants to be a part of the ADAwell mission and implement the other mentioned functions. 

From community to Cardano DAO

ADAwell aims to become a Cardano DAO. The tooling needed for DAOs is lacking at the moment, but is in development. As part of the proposal, we will investigate existing solutions with the help of Littlefish Foundation’s Tech Help Collective, and strategize on how to transform ADAwell into a community driven wellness DAO on Cardano. 

Outcomes: 

• Implement part of Function 1: ‘‘Curation & Synthesis’’ (Details in plan section)
• Curated Toolkits & Health literacy contents.
• Start the ADAwell wellbeing community on Discord

[IMPACT] Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.

Wellbeing is gaining importance as millions around the world are understanding the importance of personal health and wellness. This wave is starting to blossom on the blockchain space as well. VitaDAO and similar initiatives have been in the space for years but they focus on funding scientists, leaving the layperson and their wellbeing needs untended to. 

ADAwell aims to fill that void, becoming the destination for wellness in the blockchain space. As the challenge states, not yet existing tools give Cardano a distinct advantage in the DAO space. This applies to not yet existing DAOs as well. Creating a wellness based DAO on Cardano will draw in many wellness professionals, giving Cardano a distinct advantage against competitors in the space. 

The proposal will impact these Key Metrics from the challenge:

Number of Communities engaged in collaboration using Cardano DAO creation tools.

• ADAwell will be such a DAO, using Cardano DAO tools to operate in the space

Amount of ADA coming from DAOs transaction fees after the solutions on this challenge get implemented (> than the challenge's allocated fund amount)

• With a thriving wellness based DAO operating out of Cardano, more ADA will be coming through on transaction fees.

Number of DAOs that use Cardano as governance/management chain in 6 months.

• ADAwell will use Cardano as the governance chain and onboard newcomers from other chains through our connections with other wellness based blockchain communities like VitaDAO.

[IMPACT] What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?

Risk 1 - Community building around wellbeing can be challenging. 

Mitigation - We have an online/offline network of the wellbeing community. We’ll contact people to help us build a community. 

Risk 2 - Providing health information means too much responsibility as the work affects people’s health. 

Mitigation - We will be providing sources that are trusted. We make sure to give disclaimers and contents with accurate information.

Risk 3 - There can be legal implications of providing content on wellbeing due to inaccuracy of data. 

Mitigation - We will study legal implications and act accordingly, referencing reputable sources, asking individuals to consult their doctors on all healthcare topics.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed plan, including timeline and key milestones for delivering your proposal.

August: kickstart the platform

• Publish ADAwell on Obsidian Publish
• Setup Discord Server
• Design user manual and contributor’s guideline MVP
• Publish SLEEP TOOLKITS (Sleep optimization via checklists. (Curation from sources like humansleepscience.com, sleepfoundation.org thesleepclinicla.com health.harvard.edu, why we sleep and the power of when books, Matt Walker podcast, and many others)

September: increase community engagement and number of Toolkits 

• Publish EYE HEALTH TOOLKITS
• Plan and hold AMA session
• Start ADAwell promotion campaigns (SM announcements)
• Do activities (surveys, threads) to increase community engagement
• Contact wellbeing professionals to join the community. 

October-December: increase number of Toolkits and contributors, expand the core team

• Run Zoom meetings with the community
• Publish HOMO SEDENS TOOLKITS (These are necessary toolkits to help fighting sedentary lifestyle and the conditions it causes such as overeating, insomnia, back pain, obesity, etc.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

Total: 5690 USD

> 690 USD: digital tools cost 

Platform building tools:

50 USD Obsidian 1 user 1 year

200 USD Obsidian Publish 1 year

Community building tools:

150 USD Zoom 

290 USD Miro 3 team members yearly plan

> 5000 USD: platform, community, DAO building 

The rest of the budget is to implement the proposal, rated at 1000 USD/month. This rate will allow me to work full time on ADAwell for the duration of the proposal, from August to December.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide details of the people who will work on the project.

Adalat Raimova

Wellness and longevity researcher, fellow applicant at VitaDao, member of Discord channels like Molecule and LabDao.

Previous roles:

• Researcher in a longevity startup (6m)
• Research assistant in the 15th top national security think tank internationally (20m)
• Researcher in a public opinion company (12m)
• BBA degree

Courses in progress:

• Longevity Medicine 101
• The Science of Well-Being Yale University
• Stanford Introduction to Food and Health Stanford University

Twitter

LinkedIn

Telegram

ChaKhan 3+ years experience as a Backend Developer. Python, REST, Postgres, data modeling. Electrical and Electronics Engineering Major. Working fulltime on the Littlefish Foundation. MBA Thesis in progress on the Littlefish Foundation. Learning within the Catalyst/Cardano ecosystem for 7+ months. Focusing on organization building, governance, token engineering with long-term interest in Economics, Game Theory, Behavioral Psychology, Political Science, and History.

LinkedIn

I’ll be helping Ada with the technology, guiding her journey into turning ADAwell into a community run DAO. 

[FEASIBILITY] If you are funded, will you return to Catalyst in a later round for further funding? Please explain why / why not.

This proposal is the Proof of Concept for ADAwell. In future funds, we will return to Catalyst for further funding to implement the broader vision with a larger team.

• We want to improve the current "Curation and Synthesis" (Function 1) by adding a feature of "request". The Cardano community can request a curation for a specific topic. It will provide mechanisms for the needed knowledge in real-time. 
• We will add "Support" (Function 2). This function enables online coaching and consulting provided by professionals to the Cardano community.
• We will add "Events and Challenges" (Function 3). Feature: organization of online/offline wellbeing events and healthy task challenges (e.g. 21-day speed walking, 21-day going sugar-free, elimination diet). This will promote the growth of both Adawell and Cardano communities.

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or any member of your team working on any other proposals in this Fund9?

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or your team working on any other proposals from previous Funds?

[AUDITABILITY] Please describe what you will measure to track your project's progress, and how will you measure these?

Where can you find our progress?

We will publish all our work on our public Obsidian knowledge base and share updates through our Discord community.

Metrics to measure

Google analytics on Obsidian 

• Number of toolkits/pages generated
• Number of unique visitors, page views on Obsidian

Discord community tracking

• Measure community interaction through Discord communications, feedback on content by community members
• Number of community members
• Number of requests for curation from the community

Twitter Analytics

• Tweet impressions
• Growth of Followers and Subscribers

[AUDITABILITY] What does success for this project look like?

1 - Curation & Synthesis Toolkits (Sleep, Eye health, Homo Sedens) have been published, over 100+ views each, gets 3+ positive feedbacks from people who benefited from it

2 - ADAwell community grows: 1+ people join the core team, 5+ active contributors, 50+ Discord members

3 - As ADAwell community grows people from Cardano community request a curation of a specific health topic, more than 30% of the requests has been fulfilled

Long-term success:

Community of wellbeing enthusiasts promotes health literacy and health optimization, and finds new solutions to maximize the well-being of ADAwell and CARDANO community.

[AUDITABILITY] Please provide information on whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project in Catalyst or an entirely new one.

Entirely new proposal.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Rating

According to the course I have taken before and to SDGs UN this proposal fits with the SDGs' 3rd goal: GOOD HEALTH & WELL-BEING. The proposal indirectly tackles another problem which is POPULATION AGEING. With the curation of Longevity science and with the knowledge of age-related diseases we can slow ageing.