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mHealth in Malawi — Landscape Analysis (Ministry of Health and Population, Malawi, 2018)

As mobile technology has become ubiquitous, Malawi has seen several robust service delivery mobile applications for healthcare deployed with different levels of success. SMS and phone hotline projects have reached national scale and have been widely regarded as having both high impact and ease of use. Unfortunately, to date, no smartphone applications have been able to scale to a national audience and systems remain in silos both geographically, topically, and technically. With limited resources, how do we determine which solutions should expand, where pilots can provide
new insights into existing gaps, and how to create a national policy that allows for both innovation and scale?

To aid the Kuunika: Data for Action project in developing and implementing mobile technology in Malawi, and to a larger extent, to aid the Ministry of Health and Population in the governance of mobile technology, Cooper Smith conducted an independent evaluation of mobile health technology systems currently being implemented in Malawi. This assessment provides a concrete way that Malawi can adapt high-level frameworks and tools into assessments that provide evidence for policies, standards, and strategies in mobile health.

Click here for full analysis.

Thumb-Stopping and 15 other Case Studies on HIV-related Behaviour Change Communication (APCOM, 2018)

Many Asian countries are recording alarmingly high numbers of HIV infection among its MSM population. This is particularly evident in large urban areas like Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila, and Saigon. HIV prevalence has been reported between 15-31% in these cities. Where data is available, the rate of HIV testing among young MSM aged 18 to 29 is less than 50%.

Meanwhile, the adoption of media and technology in Southeast Asia – especially in urban areas – has grown exponentially. Online sexual networking websites and mobile dating apps are used by young MSM to regularly seek out sexual partners. This gives campaigners new opportunities to reach and engage this demographic like never before.

testXXX was created by APCOM to respond to this crisis and opportunity for HIV services for young MSM in the region. testXXX empowers the existing community-based clinics to reach and recruit wider young MSM audience. It does this by harnessing the power of cutting-edge communications and creativity that resonates with the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours of young MSM.

Thumb Stopping and 15 other Case Studies on HIV-related Behaviour Change Communication is the report based on the lessons shared during the testXXX Regional Dialogue, which took place in Bangkok during 23-25 May 2018 and were attended by eight testXXX campaigners from Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila and Saigon.

Click here for full report.

Humanitarian Futures for Messaging Apps (ICRC, The Engine Room and Block Party Report 2017)

Mobile messaging apps are the fastest-growing digital communications phenomenon ever. Today, more than 2.5 billion people around the world use messaging apps, a figure that is expected to rise to 3.6 billion by 2018 – that’s almost half of the world’s population.

Messaging apps have great potential to make a positive impact in situations of crisis. They can also introduce risks relating to security, data protection and privacy. Humanitarian organizations need to better understand the opportunities and risks in order to develop responsible, effective and safe ways to use messaging apps to meet the needs of people affected by armed conflicts, internally displaced people, refugees or migrants.

The ICRC, together with The Engine Room and Block Party, has produced this report on the current and potential uses of messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Snapchat in humanitarian situations.

Mixed-Method Impact Evaluation of a Mobile Phone Application for Nutrition Monitoring in Indonesia (IDS Evidence Report 2016)

Routine growth monitoring is a common practice that aims to: detect children at risk of malnutrition; direct essential resources when children have growth faltering; track nutrition trends; determine eligibility for counselling and other specific services; and help to make child malnutrition more visible to the child’s caregivers, the community and government.

The quality and usefulness of growth monitoring is often limited by poor data quality, long delays between data collection and dissemination that prevent timely response, and shortcomings in the interpretation and use of the data. The full potential of growth monitoring is often underused both to increase knowledge and improve practices at community level and to inform decision-making for better nutrition.

The use of mobile phone technology may offer innovative opportunities to strengthen community-based growth monitoring and make it more effective for tackling child malnutrition. Despite global enthusiasm for using mobile phones for nutrition monitoring and surveillance systems, there are only very few studies that have critically assessed their application. Together with World Vision Indonesia and World Vision Canada, the Institute of Development Studies aimed to fill this evidence gap and evaluate the piloting of a mobile phone application for community-based growth monitoring.

Effective Public Health Communication in an Interconnected World: Enhancing Resilience to Health Crises (report from the Rockefeller Convening of a meeting in October 2015)

The public health communication community has more tools and mechanisms at its disposal than ever before, but is also facing increasingly complex public health challenges ushered in by globalization, urbanization, conflict, and connective technologies. The community is connected in unprecedented ways, but despite this fact there remains a lack of consistent and coherent communication among responders, within health systems and across the public domain.

In light of this persistent problem, KYNE and News Deeply, supported by The Rockefeller Foundation, convened a meeting on Effective Public Health Communication in an Interconnected World: Enhancing Resilience to Health Crises, held at the Bellagio Center in Bellagio, Italy, in October 2015. At the convening, 18 experts in communication, public health, and emergency response came together to detail areas of alignment and gaps.

This report seeks to distill those lessons learned and contribute to the research base on public health communication in times of crisis, by detailing key takeaways from the convening. News Deeply also conducted interviews with participants, as well as external reviews with community organizations and leaders, to inform the body of the report. In addition, it includes synthesized case studies from three participants across different regional contexts: the 2013–15 Ebola crisis in West Africa, the SARS epidemic of 2003 in Singapore, and the 2015 Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in New York City.

 

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