Community Health Worker Evaluation of Implementing an mHealth Application to Support Maternal Health Care in Rural India

Introduction: PIERS on the Move (POM) is a mobile health (mHealth) application developed for a smartphone to support community health workers (CHWs) for identification and management of women at risk of adverse outcomes from pre-eclampsia. POM was implemented as an addition to routine antenatal care by accredited social health activists (ASHAs) and auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs) during the community level intervention for pre-eclampsia (CLIP) Trial in Karnataka state, India (NCT01911494). The objective of this study was to evaluate the experiences of CHWs of using POM in rural India and their perceptions of acceptability and feasibility of this mHealth intervention.Methods: A posttrial mixed-methods evaluation was designed to measure CHW knowledge and self-efficacy regarding the care of women with pre-eclampsia and perceptions of CHWs on the ease of use and usefulness of POM. A structured survey with open-ended questions was conducted between October and November 2017. The median values on a 5-point Likert scale for knowledge and self-efficacy questions were compared between trial arms by Mann–Whitney U test (p < 0.05 significant). Qualitative analysis was undertaken on NVivo 12 (QSR International, Melbourne, Australia).Results: A total of 48 ASHAs and ANMs were interviewed, including 24 who used POM (intervention arm) and 24 who did not (control arm). Self-reported knowledge and self-efficacy for the care of women with pre-eclampsia did not differ between groups. The qualitative analysis highlighted that health workers who used POM reported improved interactions with women and families in their communities. POM strengthened the role of ASHA as a CHW beyond a “link-worker” accompanying women to health services. With training, the mHealth application was easy to use even for CHWs who did not have much experience with smartphones.Conclusions: Community health workers found the POM app easy to use, useful, and well-received by women and their families. POM did not improve care through increased knowledge but built capacity by increasing the recognition of the ASHA and ANM as critical members of the continuum of antenatal healthcare within their communities. These findings support the important role that mHealth technologies can play in strengthening health systems to reach rural, remote, and marginalized populations to reduce disparities in health.

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A Community-Based Participatory Diabetes Prevention and Management Intervention in Rural India Using Community Health Workers

The Diabetes Educator ◽

10.1177/0145721712459890 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 38 (6) ◽

pp. 822-834 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

Padmini Balagopal ◽

N. Kamalamma ◽

Thakor G. Patel ◽

Ranjita Misra ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Community Health ◽

Community Health Workers ◽

Diabetes Prevention ◽

Health Workers ◽

Rural India ◽

Community Based ◽

Management Intervention

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Acceptability and feasibility of digital technology for training community health workers to deliver brief psychological treatment for depression in rural India

Asian Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.ajp.2019.09.006 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 45 ◽

pp. 99-106 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Shital S. Muke ◽

Ritu D. Shrivastava ◽

Lauren Mitchell ◽

Azaz Khan ◽

Vaibhav Murhar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Community Health ◽

Community Health Workers ◽

Digital Technology ◽

Health Workers ◽

Psychological Treatment ◽

Rural India ◽

Training Community

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Evaluation of The Skills of Community Health Workers in Providing Self-Care Program for Pre-Diabetic Individuals Based On The Precede-Proceed Model: A Descriptive Study

10.21203/rs.3.rs-877857/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mahmoud Ghasemi ◽

Fazlollah Ghofranipour ◽

Hasan Shahbazi ◽

Farkhondeh Aminshokravi

Keyword(s):

Community Health ◽

Community Health Workers ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Health Workers ◽

Pearson Correlation ◽

Self Care ◽

Care Program ◽

Mazandaran Province ◽

Enabling Factors ◽

Study Results

Abstract Background This study aimed to investigate the skills of community health workers in providing a self-care program for pre-diabetic individuals in Mazandaran Province, Iran, based on the Precede-Proceed model. Methods This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 400 community health workers in Mazandaran province using the cluster random sampling method. Data collection tools included demographic information and 54 questions based on the structures of the Precede-Proceed model, the validity and reliability of which were confirmed. Data were analyzed using SPSS 22 software and Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression tests. Results The mean age of participants was 34.13 ± 8.94 years. The study results showed that awareness, attitude, and reinforcing factors variables were in the desired range, and knowledge, self-efficacy, enabling factors, and health workers' skills variables were in the moderate range. According to the regression test, self-efficacy (R2 = 0.503) and enabling factors (R2 = 0.422) were the most important predictors of health workers' skills in presenting a self-care program for pre-diabetic people. Conclusion According to the results obtained in the study of community health workers' skills, it is suggested that educational interventions to improve community health workers' skills in providing self-care programs for pre-diabetics with emphasis on predisposing factors (with more focus on knowledge and self-efficacy) and enabling factors to be designed and implemented.

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