The Ihangane Project mobilizes community innovation in clinical care, community health, health systems management and social enterprise to create effective and resilient front line health systems that connect national protocols to local realities.
Mobile Technology for Community Health (MoTeCH)
Mobile Technology for Community Health (MoTeCH)
Not-for-profit
Year launched: 2010Existing or expanding (post-pilot)
Approach
Target geography
Target Population
Target income level
- Bottom 20%
- Lower-middle income (20-40%)
- Middle-income (40-60%)
- Higher middle-income (60-80%)
- High-income (80-100%)
Health focus
- Maternal, newborn and child health
Summary
MoTeCH is a joint initiative between the Grameen Foundation, Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the Ghana Health Service which uses mobile phone technology to improve health outcomes for mothers and their newborns in rural Ghana.Program goals
The initiative was designed in an effort to bridge the gap between community health workers and patients.
Key program components
MOTECH is comprised of two interrelated services. The “Mobile Midwife” application enables pregnant women and their families to receive SMS or pre-recorded voice messages on personal mobile phones that provide time-specific information about their pregnancy each week in their own language (99% have chosen voice). The messages continue through the first year of life for the newborn and reinforce well-child care practices and vaccination schedules. There is also a “Nurse Application” that enables Community Health Nurses to electronically record care given to patients and identify women and newborns in their area that are due for care. The two components are linked so that if a patient has missed treatment that is part of the defined care schedule, the Mobile Midwife service sends a message to remind the patient to go to the clinic for that particular service and the nurse is also informed that the patient is due for treatment.
The MOTECH system was launched in July 2010 in the Upper East Region of Ghana and has registered over 7,000 pregnant women and children under five. To validate the replicability of the service, expansion to the Awutu Senya district is scheduled for March 2011. A randomized control trial in the Upper East Region will be completed by Columbia University in November 2011.
As of March 2013, 11,843 clients were served and 34 facilities were in existence.
Scale
Technology
Financials
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