CommCare is a mobile-phone based application that will enable community health workers to provide better, more efficient care while also enabling better supervision and coordination of community health programs

The Problem

Community wealth workers (CHWs) play a vital role in serving poor and rural populations. CHWs are typically in the best position to promote preventive care and convey important health information, and are often the only health workers with sufficient time to get to know and understand the challenges of the poor. CHWs can encourage prompt care-seeking behavior, and detect and refer those at risk for tuberculosis, malaria, and other important diseases. CHWs also have the potential to collect information that is needed at the national level about disease burden and barriers to adopting necessary health practices. CHWs, however, often receive relatively little medical training, have high turnover, and have limited opportunities to reinforce their knowledge once they begin working in the field. They typically lack effective tools required to maintain the longitudinal records required to provide truly effective care. Furthermore, CHWs are difficult to organize and manage for the very reason they are so effective: that they live in the community and only rarely have contact with their supervisors.

What is CommCare?

Dimagi and D-Tree International are leading CommCare, a mobile-phone based application that enables CHWs to provide better, more efficient care while also enabling better supervision and coordination of community health programs. Dimagi is leading the development of the open source phone and web-based application, building on years of experience in mobile health.

D-Tree International, a frequent partner and implementer with Dimagi, is leading the implementation of CommCare deployments, currently focused in Tanzania. This effort is a collaboration with local researchers and implementing organizations, and is built on top of the open source JavaROSA platform.

Each CHW will have a phone running the CommCare software that will assist them to manage household visits and plan their day. Using CommCare, community health workers also collect and report data that will help them monitor and evaluate community health programs.

There are many ways in which CommCare can support community health programs. For example, CHWs can be encouraged to visit every woman who gives birth as soon as possible after delivery. CommCare guides the CHW through a questionnaire to collect data on the birth and the condition of the infant that includes questions to assess the infant and mother for key danger signs. In addition to sending the data back to a central repository to assist with vital registration, the system will also guide the CHW to urgently refer an infant or mother in need of medical attention, thus addressing one of the key barriers to reducing neonatal morality.

For More Information

Where can CommCare be downloaded?

For more information on Dimagi and CommCare, see
CommCare

For more information on D-Tree, see D-Tree and the work with community care in Tanzania and CommCare here CommCare Tanzania