Client Profile

Dandora (Nairobi, Kenya) is one of the largest urban squatter settlements in the world. The Holy Cross Congregation has had been working for more than 50 years in Dandora. The Kellogg Institute’s Ford Family Program in Human Development Studies and Solidarity works closely with the community in Dandora to explore different opportunities for social, community and health development. The Parish and community have expressed a long-term interest in establishing a maternity ward, and donors have also expressed interest in providing support.  We would like this to be a ward that incorporates research, focusing on serving a population for which high quality, cutting edge care maternal and child health care is often out of reach.

See all Development Advisory Team projects with the Ford Family Program

Definition of Problem

The Ford Family Program would like a group of students, ideally with at least one premedical or global/public health student, to investigate strategies to improve the services available at the community level by harnessing mobile technology.

Initial Steps and Options

Investigate potential models that use mobile technology to improve the provision of maternal, pre-natal and post-natal care to women in resource-poor settings in East Africa.  The final product should include:

1)    Identify at least 4 -5 separate models, programs or initiatives that use mobile technology that improves (or attempt to improve) maternal health in the developing world.

  1. At least 1 of these examples should involve the use of a handset-based application to guide the interaction of community health workers and community members.
  2. At least 1 of these examples should involve the use of a handset-based application to monitor maternal health indicators.
  3. At least 1 of the examples should involve the use of mobile communications (e.g., text messaging or mobile phone communication) for community health workers to interact directly with community members.
  4. At least 1 of the examples should involve the use of a mobile money transfer platform.  Potential examples may use the platform to deliver subsidized care to targeted participants, provide unconditional cash transfers, improve service delivery at the facility level, or some other purpose.

2)    The final product should evaluate the potential models based on the following criteria, and identify the single program or strategy expected to succeed:

  1. Cost effectiveness
  2. Ease of implementation
  3. Proven benefit or impact
  4. Potential ease of scalability
  5. Relevance for the local context

3)    The chosen model or program should include a budget, work plan, and timeline to fully understand the resources needed to implement a similar initiative in Kenya

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