The implementation of a mobile application to support community-based health workers

• Published in: European journal of public health Vol. 30; no. Supplement_5
• Main Authors: Martins, A C F, Pereira, P L, Mafra, A C C N, Miraglia, J L, Monteiro, C N, Silva, J R, Almeida, E S, Oliveira, J S, Santos, V S, Borges, L M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Oxford Publishing Limited (England) 01.09.2020
• Subjects: Access; Applications programs; Data; Demographics; Fear; Health care; Health planning; Information systems; Medical personnel; Mobile communications networks; Mobile computing; Nurses; Population; Primary care; Public health; Routers; Satisfaction; Socioeconomics; Strategic management; Tablets; Teams; Training; Wireless communication systems; Workers
• ISSN: 1101-1262; 1464-360X
• DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckaa166.051

Abstract Issue Real-time access to up-to-date population information is essential to the strategic planning of primary health care (PHC). In the Brazilian public health system community-based health workers (CHWs), working as part of PHC teams, collect health, demographic and socio-economic data from individuals mainly through paper-based forms that are later entered manually into electronic information systems. Mobile applications could help to improve the quality and speed of this process facilitating the CHWs day-to-day work while improving the access to the collected information. Description of the Problem During September of 2019, a mobile application installed in tablets for the collection of health, demographic and socio-economic data was deployed for 432 CHWs of 87 PHC teams in the southern region of São Paulo, Brazil, serving a total population of 283,324 individuals. During implementation, the acceptability and challenges faced by CHWs were evaluated and the time taken to complete data entry. Results Seventy-two hours of training were offered to CHWs and other 139 professionals including managers, nurses and administrative staff (AS). Some CHWs reported concerns about the process change and fear of not being able to operate the application, especially those unfamiliar to the technology. With training and team support, fear was transformed into satisfaction with the realization of the benefits of the system. The main infrastructure challenge was the need for installation of Wi-Fi routers in some health care units, in addition to the replacement 4.4% of damaged tablets. In four months 97.6% of the total population was registered in the application. Lessons A WhatsApp group was created to clarify AS doubts, receive suggestions and disseminate guidelines. AS remained as the reference point at healthcare units and data completeness still needs to be reinforced. Key messages A mobile application was well-accepted by CHWs and could facilitate the collection of population data. A tablet app proved to be a useful tool to generate information for the PHC teams.