Submission ID 118399
| Issue/Objective | Poor access to quality health services, especially in urban slums, is a global challenge. An assessment conducted by Save the Children in Kibra informal settlement of Nairobi, Kenya in 2016 had revealed that services rendered by small private clinics are often sub-standard. As a follow up to this assessment, Save the Children collaborated with Nairobi City County and THINKMD to implement an innovative and scalable approach to improve the quality of child health services delivered by private and public health care providers in Kibra informal settlement of Nairobi. |
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| Methodology/Approach | The pilot program involved the use of THINK MD, a clinical decision support application for assessing and managing common childhood illnesses. We trained 89 health care providers on IMNCI and on the use of the THINK MD digital platform. We aimed to determine if using this digital platform, coupled with supportive supervision and community outreach, would lead to improved compliance to the IMNCI guidelines. Baseline and end line assessments were conducted on March 2019 and April 2020 respectively to measure any change in health care HCPs) compliance to IMNCI guidelines. |
| Results | At the end of one year of the pilot study, we found that proportion of health care practitioners who preferred Amoxycillin dispersible tablet, the recommended treatment for childhood pneumonia, increased from 3% at baseline to 38% at end line. Proportion of HCPs who were aware that antibiotics should NOT be used for the management of simple diarrhea increased from 14% (at baseline) to 50% (at end line). At end line, more than 90% HCPs were found compliant in their practice to IMNCI guidelines for sick child assessment, diagnosis and management. |
| Discussion/Conclusion | The pilot demonstrated the use of the IMNCI compliant mHealth platforms as a potential important effective way to improve capacity and compliance among HCPs who are serving communities like Kibra informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. Main outcomes of the use of the THINK MD digital platform include reduction of duration of training of health care providers, replacement of paper-based reporting system by a digital system, enhanced data visualization to support decision making and data interoperability with the Kenya Health Information System (KHIS). |
| Presenters and affiliations | Daniel Muhinja Save the Children Dr Afeworki Abraham Save the Children Daniel Muhinja Save the Children |
