MHealth for Pneumonia Prevention. (30th September 2020) - Mahmood, H
Abstract: Introduction: Pneumonia contributes to 14% of under-five mortality in Pakistan. Delayed care seeking is one of the causes of death due to this disease. One of the most impactful strategies can be timely healthcare-seeking through CHW's. We, therefore propose to develop an intervention package for educating caregivers on pneumonia by Lady Health Workers (LHWs). Methodology: This first phase of the feasibility study comprised of a systematic review (SR) on best mobile health-based approaches for CHWs on the management of childhood illness followed by formative research (FR). In the systematic review, 6 databases were searched, and 22 articles were included. Based on findings of SR and FR along with guidelines of WHO and UNICEF, a mobile application-based intervention package will be developed in the second phase. Recruited LHWs will use the mobile application in their monthly visits for 6 months. Text and voice messages will be sent to each caregiver. Pre and Post-intervention surveys will be conducted with the recruited caregivers to assess the impact of the intervention and FGDs with the recruited LHWs to get feedback on the intervention. Findings: Findings of the systematic review suggest that the most common approaches of mobile health for community health workers is the use of a customized application for disease management and data collection. Findings of formative research suggest that the majority of the caregivers were not aware of the danger signs of pneumonia. Respondents agreed to the importance of an educational intervention package on pneumonia and its prevention by LHWs through mHealth. Acknowledgment: This research was commissioned by the National Institute of Health Research using Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding. The views expressed in this publication are those of author(s) and not necessarily those of NHS, the National Institute of Health Research, or the development of Health. Key messages: mHealth intervention employing community health workers can be a useful mode of improving healthcare services. Use of technology to raise awareness and delivered health-related information at community level can prove tremendously helpful for illness management.