maternal mortality

Case Study for Incorporation of Mobile Technology in Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (Manoshi) Program at BRAC Health

Posted by EKStallings on Nov 02, 2011

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Case Study for Incorporation of Mobile Technology in Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (Manoshi) Program at BRAC Health data sheet 846 Views
Author: 
ClickDiagnostics
Publication Date: 
Jan 2009
Publication Type: 
Report/White paper
Abstract: 

After extensive studies of BRAC’s health services for mothers, neonates and children in rural and urban areas (MNCH and Manoshi, respectively), ClickDiagnostics has developed a mobile phone-based solution for streamlining BRAC’s data collection procedures in Manoshi, enabling BRAC to take a more pro-active approach in strategizing and reaching the women most in need in the urban slums.



ClickDiagnostics is in the concluding stages of piloting thissolution jointly with BRAC, and after the completion of the project in January, will support BRAC in refining the model and scaling up for nationwide implementation in MNCH and Manoshi projects, and possibly also in BRAC Health’s other program.



One important reason why many pregnant mothers succumb to death or preventable miscarriages is that it is expensive for government or non-government health organizations to track pregnant mothers to assess their level of risk and prioritize its limited resources for targeted intervention. A model in which community health-workers use ICT to gather real-time information about pregnant women and send to a specialist can help to address this gap and help health organizations take precautionary measures about risky cases of pregnancies.

Paper URL: 
http://clickdiagnostics.com/wp...
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Aarogyam ICT for Mother and Child Care


Posted by bexband on Sep 26, 2011





 

        
      
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Aarogyam ICT for Mother and Child Care data sheet 259 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.  


 

        

        





      
Paper URL: 

    

            

                    http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/ego...        

        










 




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


Posted by MohiniBhavsar on Mar 09, 2011





 

        
      
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Up Close and Personal with TulaSalud's m-Health work in Guatemala data sheet 2996 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

      
Website URL: 

    

            

                    http://www.tulasalud.org        

        





      
Organization involved in the project?: 

    

            

                    TulaSalud        

        





      
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. 

  2. To receive calls from people seeking care
    3. 

  3. To organize logistics and transportation for emergencies with other tele-facilitadoras and Tula attendants at the hospitals
    4. 

  4. To follow-up with Tula attendants at hospitals to ensure their referred patients received care
    5. 



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. 

  2. Sends text message alerts and reminders using FrontlineSMS to community workers
    3. 

  3. Delivers remote health trainings via mobile phone-based audio conferencing
    4. 


        

        





      
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.
    •