Report and Recommendations for the ScaleUp of the Roshan Mustaqbil (Bright Future) mHealth Pilot Intervention

Date of Publication

2018

This report is about the Health Communication Component (HCC) project in Pakistan. The HCC program developed the Roshan Mustaqbil (Bright Future) toolkit and mHealth application as a communication focused capacity strengthening intervention aimed at enhancing the communication skills and interpersonal effectiveness of LHWs as they provide Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and ChildHealth (RMNCH) counseling services to clients.

The first of its kind for Pakistani LHWs, the Roshan Mustaqbil IPC toolkit was designed to meet the LHWs information needs and empower them to better serve their communities. Further to the IPC toolkit, HCC developed the Roshan Mustaqbil mHealth Application that has two components– mCounseling (digitalized version of IPC toolkit) and mLearning–Especially designed to assist LHWs to improve their interpersonal communication and counseling skills.

Results from field testing of both the mLearning and mCounseling components showed that a rural sample of community based health workers, many of whom had basic education skills, were capable of using the App effectively to deliver quality services to clients. Users perceived that using both components of the App enhanced their knowledge, skills, and overall role performance. By the end of the mCounseling trial, all the participants agreed that their overall effectiveness as a LHW was enhanced from the resource.