Disease Tracking and Monitoring

Happy 2012! The MobileActive Year in Review

Posted by AnneryanHeatwole on Jan 02, 2012

Welcome to a very mobile 2012! Last year mobiles were at the forefront of protests, citizen journalism, disaster recovery and relief, environmental issues, and more – and brought up questions of security and privacy along the way. Check out our new page dedicated to MobileActive's 2011; the Year in Review pulls together our best content from the year in one easy location.

From the launch of The Mobile Media Toolkit (a great resource for reporters, citizen journalists, and media organizations that want to use mobile technology in their work) and our increased focus on security and privacy with the SaferMobile initiative, we've set the groundwork for big changes in 2012.

Keep in contact with MobileActive through Twitter, Facebook, our discuss list, or our newsletters at MobileActive.org and (for all of you reporters and citizen journalists) at the Mobile Media Toolkit. We hope that everyone has a safe and happy New Year, and we are excited for what 2012 holds. Thanks for being part of the MobileActive community!
 

Scaling Up Mobile Health: Elements Necessary for the Successful Scale Up of mHealth in Developing Countries

Posted by AnneryanHeatwole on Dec 12, 2011
Scaling Up Mobile Health: Elements Necessary for the Successful Scale Up of mHealth in Developing Countries data sheet 565 Views
Author: 
Jeannine Lemaire
Publication Date: 
Dec 2011
Publication Type: 
Report/White paper
Abstract: 

The use of mobile phones to improve the quality of care and enhance efficiency of service delivery within healthcare systems is known as mobile health, or mHealth, and is a sub-segment of the broader field of electronic health (eHealth). WHO has defined mHealth as the “provision of health services and information via mobile technologies such as mobile phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs).” mHealth tools have shown promise in providing greater access to healthcare to populations in developing countries, as well as creating cost efficiencies and improving the capacity of health systems to provide quality healthcare. 

Recent evidence from randomized scientific trials and studies has demonstrated that the capabilities of mobile phone technology, particularly SMS messaging, can positively impact treatment outcomes. Results of the WelTel Kenya1 clinical trial, the first study of its kind in Africa, were published in The Lancet in November of 2010. The trial focused on the impact of SMS messaging on HIV-infected adults starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) in three clinics in Kenya. The study showed that patients who received SMS support had significantly higher adherence to ART and higher rates of viral suppression when compared with patients in the control group. A scale up of such a mobile phone support system in Kenya could suppress viral loads in 26,000 extra people at the cost of less than USD 8 per person per year, according to Richard Lester of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control and the study’s lead researcher. Another cluster-randomized trial at 107 rural facilities in Kenya found that SMS message reminders sent to health workers’ mobile phones improved and maintained their adherence to treatment guidelines for outpatient pediatric malaria in Kenya.

A multitude of mHealth solutions have emerged over the years in countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, which are leading the way in using mobile health services, according to the Global Observatory for eHealth at the WHO. Getachew Sahlu of the WHO identified the convergence of the following factors as the driving force behind the current rapid mHealth growth in developing countries: (1) a record growth of mobile phone users, (2) rapid expansion of mobile networks, (3) the decline in mobile phone costs, and (4) the innovation in mobile technology. The mobile platform presents the unique capability of delivering healthcare services wherever people are—not just in healthcare facilities. mHealth initiatives have also been effective in reaching underserved populations, particularly those in rural areas, changing health behaviors and outcomes, and addressing a wide variety of healthcare challenges, including:

• The shortage of skilled healthcare workers in certain developing country settings
• Treatment adherence and compliance
• Lack of timely and actionable disease surveillance
• Poor drug inventory and supply chain management
• Use of counterfeit drugs
• Lack of medical diagnostic treatment
• Slow rates of information flow and reporting delays.

mHealth represents a cost-effective technology solution to many of these challenges if implemented correctly and brought to scale. The costs of mobile handsets and usage are declining as demand for mobile services increases and mobile networks are being rapidly expanded.

Featured?: 
No

Mobiles Phones for Health Worldwide: Moving From Hype to Context and Benefit

Posted by AnneryanHeatwole on Dec 09, 2011

We recently attended the mHealth Summit 2011 to learn more about the latest developments in the mobile health field. The conference brought together developers, practitioners, NGOs, representatives from corporate industries, and government officials to discuss the current state and future of mobile health. 

Several key trends emerged among the discussions, focusing on: local buy-in and capacity building, the importance of building partnerships and trust among communities, and the need to transition from short-term pilots to scalable, sustainable mHealth projects.

Scale, Sustainability, and Hype

There was a lot of discussion at the mHealth Summit 2011 about the number of failed pilot projects and the hype around mobile health.  More productively, there was considerable discussion on what steps can be taken to reduce the waste (including financial, time, and community good-will) that results from launching unusable, unscalable, or unsustainable mobile health projects. The honest assessment of challenges in the m-health field led to discussions about scalability and sustainability.

Cell-Life, Case Study 11

Posted by EKStallings on Nov 04, 2011
Cell-Life, Case Study 11 data sheet 992 Views
Author: 
Willmers, Michelle, Cheryl Hodgkinson-Williams
Publication Date: 
Feb 2009
Publication Type: 
Report/White paper
Abstract: 

This case study analyses the ways in which the Cell-Life initiative, a collaboration between UCT‘s (University of Cape Town) departments of Civil and Electrical Engineering and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), utilises technology-based solutions (in particular, cellphone technology) for the life management of patients living with HIV/AIDS.
 

Cell-Life is a model example of a socially responsive endeavor which utilizes technology to overcome limitations and constraints. The use of cellphones to save lives by aiding adherence to the ARV medication regime and gather data is a remarkable contribution to the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic and signifies an intersection between the academic endeavour, innovation and the lives of ordinary people on the ground. The open approach taken by the organisation in sharing its work also illustrates how research is able to contribute to the 'undead count' (i.e. the number of lives saved) of academic research, which must surely be considered the greatest achievement of any endeavor.

Featured?: 
Yes

Mobile Phone-based Infectious Disease Surveillance System, Sri Lanka

Posted by EKStallings on Oct 26, 2011
Mobile Phone-based Infectious Disease Surveillance System, Sri Lanka data sheet 755 Views
Author: 
Robertson, Colin, Kate Sawford, Samson L.A. Daniel, Trisalyn A. Nelson, Craig Stephen
Publication Date: 
Oct 2010
Publication Type: 
Report/White paper
Abstract: 

Because many infectious diseases are emerging in animals in low-income and middle-income countries, surveillance of animal health in these areas may be needed for forecasting disease risks to humans.


We present an overview of a mobile phone–based frontline surveillance system developed and implemented in Sri Lanka. Field veterinarians reported animal health information by using mobile phones. Submissions increased steadily over 9 months, with ≈4,000 interactions between field veterinarians and reports on the animal population received by the system.


Development of human resources and increased communication between local stakeholders (groups and persons whose actions are affected by emerging infectious diseases and animal health) were instrumental for successful implementation.


The primary lesson learned was that mobile phone–based surveillance of animal populations is acceptable and feasible in lower-resource settings. However, any system implementation plan must consider the time needed to garner support for novel surveillance methods among users and stakeholders.

Featured?: 
No

“SMS for Life“: Use of stock information to improve supply chain

Posted by ccarlon on Oct 11, 2011
“SMS for Life“: Use of stock information to improve supply chain data sheet 688 Views
Author: 
Barrington, Jim, Olympia Wereko-Brobby and René Ziegler
Publication Date: 
Apr 2010
Publication Type: 
Report/White paper
Abstract: 

Stock-outs of malaria treatments at the health facility level in many sub-Saharan African countries have been a persistent problem for many years. A stock-out is the unavailability of medicine at the health facility. In Tanzania, 93 % of the population are at risk for malaria infection. The number of malaria cases is estimated to be 11 million resulting into 60-80 thousand deaths per year or 220 deaths per day in Tanzania alone. The goal of the SMS for Life pilot project was to develop a flexible and scalable solution to bring up-to-date visibility of anti-malarials within the Tanzanian Public Health Sector with a potential to reduce or eliminate stock-outs of five drugs (four dosage forms of ACTs and Quinine Injectable) in all health facilities in a pilot sample of three districts.

Initiated and led by Novartis, a public-private partnership was established with the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, IBM, Vodafone and the Ministry of Health in Tanzania. This unique partnership developed a solution using mobile phones, SMS messages, internet and mapping technology to visualize weekly stock inventory of Artemisinin Combination Therapy (ACTs) and Quinine Injectable at 129 health facilities and 226 villages. Over the course of one year, the Project Team designed the system, created a data repository, trained key staff and implemented the solution for a 21-week pilot in three districts of Tanzania: Ulanga, Kigoma Rural and Lindi Rural. These districts are located in three different regions and supplied from different Zonal Stores with a catchment population of 1.2 million people.


The Effectiveness of M-Health Technologies for Improving Health and Health Services: A Systematic Review Protocol

Posted by VivianOnano on Sep 30, 2011
The Effectiveness of M-Health Technologies for Improving Health and Health Services: A Systematic Review Protocol data sheet 1622 Views
Author: 
Free,Caroline; Gemma Phillips; Lambert Felix; Leandro Galli; Vikram Patel; Philip Edwards.
Publication Date: 
Oct 2010
Publication Type: 
Report/White paper
Abstract: 

The application of mobile computing and communication technology is rapidly expanding in the fields of health care and public health. This systematic review will summarise the evidence for the effectiveness of mobile technology interventions for improving health and health service outcomes (M-Health) around the world.

 

To be included in the review interventions must aim to improve or promote health or health service use and quality, employing any mobile computing and communication technology. This includes:

(1) interventions designed to improve diagnosis, investigation, treatment, monitoring and management of disease;

(2) interventions to deliver treatment or disease management programmes to patients, health promotion interventions, andinterventions designed to improve treatment compliance; and

(3) interventions to improve health care processes e.g. appointment attendance, result notification, vaccination reminders.

 

A comprehensive, electronic search strategy will be used to identify controlled studies, published since 1990, and indexed in MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Global Health, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, or the UK NHSHealth Technology Assessment database. The search strategy will include terms (and synonyms) for the following mobile electronic devices (MEDs) and a range of compatible media: mobile phone; personal digital assistant (PDA); handheld computer (e.g. tablet PC); PDA phone (e.g. BlackBerry, Palm Pilot); Smartphone; enterprise digital assistant; portable media player (i.e. MP3 or MP4 player); handheld video game console. No terms for health or health service outcomes will be included, to ensure that all applications of mobile technology in public health and healthservices are identified.

 

Bibliographies of primary studies and review articles meeting the inclusion criteria will besearched manually to identify further eligible studies. Data on objective and self-reported outcomes and study quality will be independently extracted by two review authors. Where there are sufficient numbers of similar interventions, we will calculate and report pooled risk ratios or standardised mean differences using meta-analysis.

 

This systematic review will provide recommendations on the use of mobile computing and communication technology in health care and public health and will guide future work on intervention development and primary research in this field.


Aarogyam ICT for Mother and Child Care

Posted by bexband on Sep 26, 2011
Aarogyam ICT for Mother and Child Care data sheet 283 Views
Author: 
Tiwari, Alok
Publication Date: 
Jul 2011
Publication Type: 
Report/White paper
Abstract: 

‘Aarogyam’ is a Sanskrit word which means "complete freedom from illness”. Aarogyam is an ICT based responsive system which ensures and involves active participation of all key stakeholders viz. local administration, health facilities and doctors, frontline health workers (ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activists), ANM (Auxiliary Nurse Midwife), and AWW (Angan Wadi Workers)), village heads and beneficiaries, to ensure that a pregnant woman is provided with ANC, PNC and complete immunization throughout the continuum of care.   Aarogyam maintains a village wise database of all the beneficiaries (pregnant/lactating women, children up to 5 years) of an area, which gets continually updated with new data generating on the field with the help of front line health workers. The database thus generated is the backbone of the software system used by Aarogyam. This system generates automated alerts in the form of vernacular voice calls/SMS to the beneficiary thus enabling the beneficiary with vital information at their door step.   The system not only provides beneficiary with the information to be acted upon but also ensures that the services are delivered to the beneficiary by generating automated alerts (vernacular voice calls/SMS) for the ANM and Block level health officials, informing them of due services in their area.  

 


FoneAstra: Enabling Remote Monitoring of Vaccine Cold-Chains Using Commodity Mobile Phones

Posted by VivianOnano on Sep 22, 2011
FoneAstra: Enabling Remote Monitoring of Vaccine Cold-Chains Using Commodity Mobile Phones data sheet 1528 Views
Author: 
Chaudhri, Rohit,Eleanor O'Rourke, Shawn McGuire, Gaetano Borriello, Richard Anderson.
Publication Date: 
Dec 2010
Publication Type: 
Report/White paper
Abstract: 

 We present a low-cost, energy-efficient system to remotely monitor the temperature and location of vaccines in a countrywide “cold-chain”. Our system is based on FoneAstra [11] – a low-cost, microcontroller-based, programmable device that extends capabilities of low-tier mobile phones that are commonly used in developing countries.

In the system discussed in this paper, FoneAstra is enhanced with a digital temperature sensor and integrated with a vaccine cold-box used to store vaccines in a temperature controlled environment. FoneAstra continuously monitors the temperature of the cold-box, aggregating readings over a period of time.

It uses the mobile phone to which it is coupled to send periodic SMS messages with routine temperature reports or immediate alerts if  it detects abnormal temperature conditions. Additionally, it enables location-tracking of vaccines in transit, based on the mobile phone’s cell tower-IDs.

We present results from an ongoing lab-deployment done at PATH [18], our Seattle-based partner NGO for this project. Over the next few months, we will deploy this temperature and location monitoring system for vaccine cold-chains in several countries in which PATH operates.

The client in this system, which includes a temperature sensor, FoneAstra and a mobile phone, costs $50; while the server, which includes a Netbook and a GSM modem, costs $500. We discuss how our system can scale up to enable large-scale monitoring while incurring low overhead costs.


Harvests of Development in Rural Africa: The Millenium Villages After Three Years

Posted by ccarlon on Sep 20, 2011
Harvests of Development in Rural Africa: The Millenium Villages After Three Years data sheet 252 Views
Author: 
The Earth Institute at Columbia University
Publication Date: 
May 2011
Publication Type: 
Report/White paper
Abstract: 

At the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000, world leaders adopted the Millennium Declaration, committing nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and address pressing challenges of hunger, gender inequality, illiteracy, and disease. The year 2015 has been affirmed as the deadline for reaching these Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets.

 

The goal is to show how an integrated approach to community-level development can translate the international MDG agreements into ground-level breakthroughs throughout rural sub-Saharan Africa. Villages are located in deeply impoverished rural areas that were considered hunger hotspots—with at least 20% of children malnourished. Sites were selected to reflect a diversity of agro-ecological zones, representing a range of challenges to income, food production, disease ecology, infrastructure, and health system development.

 

The Millennium Villages Project is a ten-year initiative spanning two five-year phases. The first phase focuses on achieving quick wins, especially in staple crop production and disease control, and on establishing basic systems for integrated rural development that help communities escape the poverty trap and achieve the MDGs. The Project involves the coordinated community-led delivery of a locally tailored package of scientifically proven interventions for agriculture, education, health, and infrastructure. Over the first five-year phase, interventions are delivered at a modest cost, totaling approximately $120 per capita per year, of which MVP brings about half to complement funds from the host government, the local community, and other partners. The second five-year phase will focus more intensively on commercializing the gains in agriculture and continuing to improve local service delivery systems in a manner that best supports local scale-up.


Harnessing the Mobile Revolution to Bridge the Health Education & Training Gap in Developing Countries

Posted by ccarlon on Sep 16, 2011
Harnessing the Mobile Revolution to Bridge the Health Education & Training Gap in Developing Countries data sheet 167 Views
Author: 
Callan, Paul, Robin Miller, Rumbidzai Sithole, Matt Daggett, and Daniel Altman from Dalberg Global
Publication Date: 
Jun 2011
Publication Type: 
Report/White paper
Abstract: 

This report for mHealthEd 2011 at the Mobile Health Summit focuses on the effectiveness of mHealth Education applications, analyzing at length the first wave of projects and the steps to be taken into consideration for further initiatives.

 

The first wave of mHealthEd applications for health workers – most introduced within the last 4 years and some of which are 7 presented in this report – include ones which enable workers to learn new treatment procedures, test their knowledge after training courses, take certification exams remotely, look up information in medical reference publications, and trade ideas on crucial diagnostic and treatment decisions. It is too early to test for impacts on health outcomes, but projects suggest that mHealthEd applications are improving the provision of care and levels of knowledge. Improved training can also increase job satisfaction and reduce attrition rates for healthcare workers.

Featured?: 
No

The World Bank

Posted by AnneryanHeatwole on Sep 06, 2011

"The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. Our mission is to fight poverty with passion and professionalism for lasting results and to help people help themselves and their environment by providing resources, sharing knowledge, building capacity and forging partnerships in the public and private sectors.
We are not a bank in the common sense; we are made up of two unique development institutions owned by 187 member countries: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA).

Each institution plays a different but collaborative role in advancing the vision of inclusive and sustainable globalization. The IBRD aims to reduce poverty in middle-income and creditworthy poorer countries, while IDA focuses on the world's poorest countries.

Organization Type: 
Government
State/Province: 
Washington, D.C.
City: 
Washington, D.C.
Country: 
USA

The Case of the Interdisciplinary Researcher: Using Mixed Methods to Observe ICT in Healthcare in Uganda

Posted by VivianOnano on Jul 26, 2011
The Case of the Interdisciplinary Researcher: Using Mixed Methods to Observe ICT in Healthcare in Uganda data sheet 1414 Views
Author: 
Densmore, Melissa R.
Publication Date: 
Oct 2010
Publication Type: 
Report/White paper
Abstract: 

While researchers are often depicted as either ‘social scientists’ or ‘technologists’ often their educational and ideological backgrounds are much richer than the two simple terms might imply.

This paper describes the methodology and approach of a qualitative researcher with a computer science background in investigating how information technology changes communications and information management practices within the health ecosystem constitutued by a health subsidy program in southwest Uganda.


Evaluating the Accuracy of Data Collection on Mobile Phones: A Study of Forms, SMS, and Voice

Posted by VivianOnano on Jul 06, 2011
Evaluating the Accuracy of Data Collection on Mobile Phones: A Study of Forms, SMS, and Voice data sheet 2061 Views
Author: 
Patnaik, Somani; Brunskill, Emma, Thies, William.
Publication Date: 
Apr 2009
Publication Type: 
Report/White paper
Abstract: 

While mobile phones have found broad application in reporting health, financial, and environmental data, there has been little study of the possible errors incurred during mobile data collection. This paper provides the first (to our knowledge) quantitative evaluation of data entry accuracy on mobile phones in a resource-poor setting.

Via a study of 13 users in Gujarat, India, we evaluated three user interfaces: 1) electronic forms, containing numeric fields and multiple-choice menus, 2) SMS, where users enter delimited text messages according to printed cue cards, and 3) voice, where users call an operator and dictate the data in real-time. Our results indicate error rates (per datum entered) of 4.2% for electronic forms, 4.5% for SMS, and 0.45% for voice.

These results caused us to migrate our own initiative (a tuberculosis treatment program in rural India) from electronic forms to voice, in order to avoid errors on critical health data. While our study has some limitations, including varied backgrounds and training of participants, it suggests that some care is needed in deploying electronic interfaces in resource-poor settings. Further, it raises the possibility of using voice as a low-tech, high-accuracy, and cost-effective interface for mobile data collection.


mHealth: New Horizons for Health Through Mobile Technologies

Posted by kelechiea on Jun 17, 2011
mHealth: New Horizons for Health Through Mobile Technologies data sheet 1615 Views
Author: 
World Health Organization (WHO)
Publication Date: 
Jan 2011
Publication Type: 
Report/White paper
Abstract: 

The use of mobile and wireless technologies to support the achievement of health objectives (mHealth) has the potential to transform the face of health service delivery across the globe. A powerful combination of factors is driving this change. These include rapid advances in mobile technologies and applications, a rise in new opportunities for the integration of mobile health into existing eHealth services, and the continued growth in coverage of mobile cellular networks.

According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), there are now over 5 billion wireless subscribers; over 70% of them reside in low- and middleincome countries. The GSM Association reports commercial wireless signals cover over 85% of the world’s population, extending far beyond the reach of the electrical grid.

For the first time the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Observatory for eHealth (GOe) has sought to determine the status of mHealth in Member States; its 2009 global survey contained a section specifically devoted to mHealth. Completed by 114 Member States, the survey documented for analysis four aspects of mHealth: adoption of initiatives, types of initiatives, status of evaluation, and barriers to implementation. Fourteen categories of mHealth services were surveyed: health call centres, emergency toll-free telephone services, managing emergencies and disasters, mobile telemedicine, appointment reminders, community mobilization and health promotion, treatment compliance, mobile patient records, information access, patient monitoring, health surveys and data collection, surveillance, health awareness raising, and decision support systems.

 


CoolComply: Using Wireless Tech to Monitor Medication Storage and Adherence

Posted by AnneryanHeatwole on May 17, 2011
CoolComply: Using Wireless Tech to Monitor Medication Storage and Adherence data sheet 2465 Views

Many medications lose efficacy if stored outside their optimal temperature range, but in rural settings it can be difficult to maintain a steady cooling level. A new solar-powered refrigeration device called CoolComply is working to solve this problem by creating a more stable means of home medication storage, and improving patient adherence along the way.

Developed in partnership by the Massachusetts General Hospital, Innovations in International Health at MIT, and the Global Health Committee, CoolComply uses wireless technology to relay readings to local healthcare workers so they can remotely monitor patients being treated for Multiple Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB).

MobileActive.org spoke with Stephan Boyer (a student of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT), Anna Young (the R&D Officer for International Laboratories of Innovations in International Health at MIT), and Aya Caldwell (Program Manager at CIMIT’s Global Health Initiative) about their work developing CoolComply.

Basic Information
Organization involved in the project?: 
Project goals: 

The project goals are two-fold:

  • To create a system that keeps medications cool and that monitors the medications' temperatures
  • To monitor medication adherence of patients with multiple drug resistant tuberculosis
Brief description of the project: 

CoolComply is a cooling device that monitors the temperature of MDR-TB medication and wirelessly transmits data about the temperature of the medication and patient adherence levels to community health workers through SMS. 

Target audience: 

The target audiences are community health workers in Ethiopia and patients with multiple drug resistant tuberculosis. 

Detailed Information
Length of Project (in months) : 
18
Status: 
Under Development
Anticipated launch date: 
2011 Aug
What worked well? : 

The project is still under development, but so far the group has built and tested a cooling device that transmits SMS alerts.

What did not work? What were the challenges?: 

The group has worked around designing for limited connectivity and limited electricity access, as the device needs to function off the grid while maintaining steady temperatures and regular wireless updates for commuity health workers. 


Animation without Borders: Mobile Cartoons as a Teaching Tool

Posted by MelissaUlbricht on May 14, 2011
Animation without Borders: Mobile Cartoons as a Teaching Tool data sheet 4808 Views

A team of scientists, animators, and educators are working together to create animated videos that can be sent and downloaded to mobile phones around the world. The animations can be done in any language, are targeted toward low-level literate learners, and convey methods to obtain safe water in Haiti or  techniques to farm effectively in Africa, and concepts such as value in a marketplace exchange.

This University of Illinois project is called "Scientific Animation Without Borders", or SAWBO, for short. The project started about a year ago. As the team delivers the animations via mobile phone and other mechanisms, they also hope to deliver a more collaborative and bottom-up approach toward effective educational materials.

MobileActive.org spoke with university faculty and graduate students to hear more about animation, education, and mobile technology.

Basic Information
Organization involved in the project?: 
Project goals: 

Short-term goal: Working with educators to help them to demonstrate teaching concepts using visual aids. A longer-term goal is to develop a library of animations with easier access to a wide audience.

Brief description of the project: 

A team of scientists, animators, and educators are working together to create animated videos that can be sent and downloaded to mobile phones around the world. The animations can be done in any language and are targeted toward low-level literate learners.

Target audience: 

The target audience is low-level literate learners.

Detailed Information
Status: 
Ongoing
What worked well? : 

Animation is a cost-effective approach to creating multiple language versions of content. The team is able to tap into a volunteer network of translators at the university. The online library allows for peer review of the concepts and content.

What did not work? What were the challenges?: 

One challenge is that for mobile delivery, access is dependent on bluetooth technology and video-enabled phones.


MIT D-Lab

Posted by AnneryanHeatwole on May 12, 2011

D-Lab is a program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that focuses on the use of technology and sustainable solutions for international development, especially for low-income households.

Organization Type: 
Educational
State/Province: 
MA
City: 
Boston
Country: 
USA

Designing SMS Reminders for HIV/AIDS Patients in Peru

Posted by MohiniBhavsar on Apr 22, 2011

Adherence to treatment regimes is a crucial factor in ensuring that anti-retroviral medications and tuberculosis therapy are effective. Unfortunately, insuffient adherence or non-compliance - that is irregular taking of medications, or none at all when symptoms disappear - is common in HIV/AIDS and TB patients. This leads to treatment failure, morbidity and the development of drug resistance.

To address this very problem, there are countless pilot projects and exploratory studies that are testing the role of text message-based reminder systems to improve drug-taking compliance amongst HIV/AIDS and TB patients. The hope is to push for large scale behavior change - a daunting and challenging task in and of itself, with or without technology.  One of the key prerequisites for success is to understand cultural promoters and barriers of behavior change.

This research slidecast is a brief look at participatory research involving HIV/AIDs patients in Peru and their preferences for such a text message reminder system. Dr. Curioso and colleagues from the University of Washington and Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia presented the study at the American Medical Informatics Association Symposium in 2009. 

Curioso WH, Quistberg DA, Cabello R, Gozzer E, Garcia PJ, Holmes KK, Kurth AE. "It´s time for your life": How should we remind patients to take medicines using short text messages? AMIA Annu Symp Proc 2009; pgs 129-133. Full text available here (PDF)

Designing SMS Reminders for HIV/AIDS Patients in Peru data sheet 2658 Views
Countries: Peru

Innovative Use of Cellphone Technology for HIV/AIDS Behaviour Change Communications: Three Pilot Projects

Posted by MarkWeingarten on Apr 16, 2011
Innovative Use of Cellphone Technology for HIV/AIDS Behaviour Change Communications: Three Pilot Projects data sheet 1791 Views
Author: 
de Tolly, Katherine and Helen Alexander
Publication Date: 
Jan 2009
Publication Type: 
Report/White paper
Abstract: 

The opportunities in South Africa for using mobile technologies to support initiatives in the HIV/AIDS sector are enormous. A huge number of people have cellphone access, and there are a range of innovative ways in which cellphones can be used to support treatment, disseminate information, provide anonymous counselling, gather data and link patients to services. Cell-Life is an NGO based in Cape Town, South Africa, that seeks to improve the lives of people infected and affected by HIV through the appropriate use of technology. This paper describes three pilot interventions that use cellphones for behaviour change communication, ie that are experimenting with different cellphone technologies to disseminate information, undertaken as part of Cell-Life’s Cellphones4HIV project: ARV adherence SMSs, USSD content delivery and content delivery via MXit. Challenges around measuring impact in behaviour change communications are briefly discussed, and some of Cell-Life’s upcoming initiatives are outlined.


Mobile Technology for Community Health in Ghana

Posted by MarkWeingarten on Apr 15, 2011
Mobile Technology for Community Health in Ghana data sheet 1726 Views
Author: 
Grameen Foundation
Publication Date: 
Mar 2011
Publication Type: 
Report/White paper
Abstract: 

Grameen Foundation’s experience of designing and implementing a mobile health program in Ghana can provide insights for the broader field and specific projects that are in early phases of planning and implementation. A fundamental tenet of Grameen Foundation’s work is to share information broadly, from program designs to management plans to source code to lessons learned - both successes andfailures. To that end, this document is intended to provide:

1) A comprehensive overview of the Mobile Technology for Community Health (MOTECH) project in Ghana and how it works.

2) An insight into strategic decisions and design approaches made by the project team throughout the course of the implementation.

3) Information on lessons learned during the project and implications of decisions on future scale.


Mobile Technology for Community Health (MOTECH) Ghana

Posted by jasonhahn on Apr 06, 2011
Mobile Technology for Community Health (MOTECH) Ghana data sheet 3501 Views

MOTECH in Ghana has developed two interrelated mobile health services:

“Mobile Midwife” application: This service enables pregnant women and their families to receive SMS or voice messages that provide time-specific information about their pregnancy each week in their own language. This information is a mixture of: Alerts and reminders for care seeking (e.g., reminders to go for specific treatments, such as prenatal care or a tetanus vaccination). Actionable information and advice to help deal with challenges during pregnancy (e.g., tips for saving money for transportation to deliver at a health facility, what is needed for a birthing kit, nutrition information). Educational information, including milestones in fetal development, promotion of good health practices, and songs about breastfeeding. Voice messages are delivered in English or local languages. Two languages of the Upper East Region, Kasem and Nakam, were supported for MOTECH’s first implementation, and two languages of central region, Senya and Fante, will be supported in Awutu Senya. SMS messages are all delivered in English.

Basic Information
Organization involved in the project?: 
Project goals: 

The project aims to determine how to use mobile phones to increase the quantity and quality of prenatal and neonatal care in rural Ghana, with a goal of improving health outcomes for mothers and their newborns.

Brief description of the project: 

Can information delivered over a mobile phone improve someone’s health? Can it improve the quality of care received in a rural clinic? The Mobile Technology for Community Health (MOTECH) initiative in Ghana is a partnership between Ghana Health Service, Grameen Foundation and Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the project aims to determine how to use mobile phones to increase the quantity and quality of prenatal and neonatal care in rural Ghana, with a goal of improving health outcomes for mothers and their newborns. The MOTECH system was launched in July 2010 in the Upper East Region; a replication in Awutu Senya district in Central Region will happen in April 2011. Further opportunities for scale across Ghana will be assessed in the second half of 2011. If successful, it is intended that MOTECH will be launched nationally in Ghana, and that this will become a showcase for replications throughout Africa and the world. The software system used in Ghana is available via OpenSource license and can be used for implementing a wide range of mobile health applications.

Target audience: 

Expecting and New Parents

Detailed Information
Status: 
Ongoing
Display project in profile: 
0

eMOCHA: Android Data Collection for mHealth

Posted by AnneryanHeatwole on Mar 21, 2011

Using mobiles for data collection is increasingly common, particularly in the area of mobile health and with a focus on community health workers. eMOCHA is a program using a smartphone Android application for storing and transmitting data easily.

Developed by the Johns Hopkins Center for Clinical Global Health Education, eMOCHA (which stands for “Electronic Mobile Open-source Comprehensive Health Application”) uses video, audio, touchscreen quizzes, GPS and SMS to collect and analyze large amounts of data. Larry William Chang, director of field evaluations for eMOCHA, explains in an interview with MobileActive.org that the inspiration for developing the tool came out of researchers’ experiences in the field and their desire to build solutions to gaps in health care data collection systems.

Fellow team members include Miquel Sitjar, lead developer for eMOCHA, and Robert Bollinger, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Clinical Global Health Education. Chang says, “We all had these public health problems and these education and training problems that we were looking to solve, and we wanted to build a mobile-based platform that could address all the different challenges we were facing. So we designed eMOCHA to address some of the public health and patient care problems that we were seeing with our other work.” eMOCHA’s first deployment began in October of 2010, and new pilots have been announced for 2011.

eMOCHA screenshot

Up Close and Personal with TulaSalud's m-Health work in Guatemala

Posted by MohiniBhavsar on Mar 09, 2011
Up Close and Personal with TulaSalud's m-Health work in Guatemala data sheet 3013 Views

Mohini Bhavsar was a summer 2010 research intern at MobileActive.org. Shortly after, she volunteered with TulaSalud in Guatemala to observe what it takes to implement and scale a mobile health program.

Innovation in mobile health is not quite as widespread in Latin America as it is in Africa and Asia. Of the m-health programs in Latin America, little sharing of region-specific strategies has taken place.

TulaSalud is an organization based in Guatemala that is leveraging ICT -- specifically mobile phones -- to improve the delivery of health care services for indigenous communities. Through this case study, we hope to share some of what TulaSalud has learned over the years. 

TulaSalud partners with the Ministry of Health and the Cobán School of Nursing and receives support from the Tula Foundation based in Canada. The organization's vision is to use ICT and mobile technology to reduce maternal and infant mortality and to monitor disease outbreaks in the remote highlands of Alta Verapaz. Using mobile phones, TulaSalud has been able to improve the flow of information between health professionals based in hospitals and community health workers (CHWs) in remote villages.

Alta Verapaz has the largest rural and poor indigenous population in the region with limited access to health care services. In an area with one million inhabitants, 93% are indigenous and share the highest burden of maternal mortality.

TulaSalud's community health workers, known as tele-facilitadores, use mobile phones to:

Basic Information
Organization involved in the project?: 
Project goals: 

In partnership with the Ministry of Health and the Coban School of Nursing and with support from the Tula Foundation in Canada, TulaSalud leverages ICT and mobile technology to reduce maternal and infant mortality and monitor disease outbreaks in the remote highlands of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. 

Brief description of the project: 

Using mobile phones, TulaSalud has been able to improve the flow of information between health professionals in hospitals and community health workers attending to patients in remote villages.

Community health workers are using the mobiles provided by TulaSalud in the following ways:

  1. To seek remote decision-making support from physicians and specialists in urban centers
  2. To receive calls from people seeking care
  3. To organize logistics and transportation for emergencies with other tele-facilitadoras and Tula attendants at the hospitals
  4. To follow-up with Tula attendants at hospitals to ensure their referred patients received care

The NGO takes advantage of the mobile phone in these ways:

  1. Monitors disease outbreaks in real-time based on data aggregated from patient consultations using EpiSurveyor
  2. Sends text message alerts and reminders using FrontlineSMS to community workers
  3. Delivers remote health trainings via mobile phone-based audio conferencing
Target audience: 

Rural indigenous communities in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala.

Detailed Information
Length of Project (in months) : 
3
Status: 
Ongoing
What worked well? : 
  • Having strong local IT capacity.
  • Working closely with Ministry of Health, Guatemala.
  • Simple and easy-to-use forms, based on paper-forms that CHWs are already familiar with.
  • Many telefacilitators already have knowledge of community level health issues (previously trained as midwives or community health workers).
  • Telefacilitators use the calling capability of the phone to consult doctors at the TulaSalud office for diagnostic support. The mobile phone plans have 1000 minutes and network to network calling is free. This reduces costs substantially.
  • Digitizing data at the community level through the mobile phone reduced reporting time from 40 days to 4 days. 
  • Distance health training delivered by linking mobile phone to audio conferencing device.
What did not work? What were the challenges?: 
  • Signal issues in some areas required telefacilitators to walk 20-25 minutes from homes. This could be a demotivator.
  • Currently, only one physician has access to the data aggregated in EpiSurveyor. For expansion, the organization needs to develop an organized system of sharing.
  • With Episurveyor, data is downloaded manually into Excel, then to Access, where it is analyzed. This is a slow process with too many steps and is not ideal for expansion.
  • With EpiSurveyor, web-based analysis tools are weak and only for fixed form entries. All analysis is done in internal Access database.
  • There is a need to strengthen the referral processes; it is call-based and does not yet integrate with data coming through EpiSurveyor or directly with Tula's web-based records system.

Cutting Costs, Boosting Quality and Collecting Data Real-Time: Lessons from a Cell Phone-Based Beneficiary Survey to Strengthen

Posted by MarkWeingarten on Mar 02, 2011
Cutting Costs, Boosting Quality and Collecting Data Real-Time: Lessons from a Cell Phone-Based Beneficiary Survey to Strengthen data sheet 1595 Views
Author: 
Schuster, Christian and Perez Brit, Carlos
Publication Date: 
Feb 2011
Publication Type: 
Report/White paper
Abstract: 

A 2010 Country Governance and Anti-Corruption (CGAC)-funded pilot in Guatemala employed entry-level mobile phones in conjunction with EpiSurveyor, a free, web-based software for data collection, to drastically reduce cost, facilitate accuracy and accelerate implementation of a nationally-representative beneficiary survey of Guatemala‘s conditional cash transfer program.

As such, it illustrates the potential of mobile phone-based data collection to strengthen program monitoring, evaluation and implementation, in particular in remote and marginalized areas highly populated by indigenous peoples.