Keesara- MHealth Protocol 6

Keesara- MHealth Protocol 6

by Sirina Keesara -
Number of replies: 2

1. Kenya is divided into Counties, Districts and Sub-districts. My aim would be to target the national health system because I think that the mhealth initiative could work in most areas of the country, especially in rural areas where access to health care workers is limited. However, I would look inot advocating in the District of Kasarani to start, as most health related initatives start in this district. This area has the most resources and our clinic is in this setting. Applying the mhealth intervention to similar clinics would make the most sense

2. Healthcare governance is decentralized with the new constitution of Kenya, so the saying "all politics is local" is really important in this case.  Each district would probably decide on their own intervention. Again, I would focus on Nairobi because this is the setting in which the pilot clinic is located. 

3. We would most likely use the health research broker to act as a representative in the government to help policy-makers who are designing new health systems integrate our evidence into their systems.

4. One of the great things about the Ministry of Health in Kenya is that the health policy makers are heavily connected to health researchers. They have specific working groups that are made up of public health research organizations, health worker representatives and policy makers. We could become part of the mHealth working group and share the knowledge that we are developing at our clinic. We could present the research in a way that helps address some of the issues that the government has set commitments in strategy plans such as Vision 2030 (plan for Kenya in vision 2030)

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In reply to Sirina Keesara

Re: Keesara- MHealth Protocol 6

by Lisa Thompson -

Hi Sirina, Do you think that the national health care system would implement text messaging reminders about FP? Since one your study goals is to have women return to clinic if they are experiencing side effects or want to change methods, you might translate your research into policies like certified family planning health educators, or increased funding for FP health ed targeting FP users, or increased provision of preferred FP methods.

In reply to Sirina Keesara

Re: Keesara- MHealth Protocol 6

by Matt Hickey -

Hi Sirina, sounds like the mHealth group is a useful connection.  One of the translatable components of your intervention might be to help other programs/organizations to use SMS for other types of interventions.  I think there is often a barrier to figuring out how to use this technology and if you are able to successfully implement, this could be very useful and a potential 'in' to further engagement with the ministry.