This December 7, 2016 webinar highlighted real-time activity monitoring and reporting technologies and how they are advancing global health.
The webinar was moderated by Samir Doshi, Senior Scientist at the Global Development Lab at USAID.
Real-Time Monitoring of SBC Programs
Real-time monitoring (RTM) it is a way to facilitate the timely use of data in order to better inform ongoing programmatic activities. RTM allows for high-quality data – that is timely, relevant, accurate, complete, and specific – to be collected, organized, stored, and managed in efforts to increase data accessibility, data visualization, and data use.
Mobile technology has made a huge difference in terms of monitoring and evaluation over the past 10 years. Today, access to mobile phones and laptop computers or tablets is greater than ever. With these technologies, it is possible to collect data on Social and Behavior Change (SBC) project results and analyze them quickly. RTM allows program teams to use data to identify unforeseen opportunities and make course corrections throughout the life of the project.
For example, in Malawi, CCP used mobile data collection to gather real-time data about the different HIV-related services provided to young women. The program team was then able to translate raw data into meaningful information in a timely manner so that program managers could decide if the project was reaching enough young women and providing necessary services. From this, the team decided how they could adapt the logistics and program design– quickly, in a matter of days, not weeks or months later.
On this page, the Health COMpass offers a selection of technical articles, tools, and project examples relating to real-time monitoring. If you have a tool or project example to share, please send it to us! You can send it directly to the Health COMpass Curator, Susan Leibtag, susan.leibtag@jhu.edu or upload it here.
Technical Articles and Documents
- DeSilva, Mary, et al. Real-Time Electronic Drug Monitoring for HIV-Positive Adolescents: Promising Acceptability and Feasibility in China. Journal of AIDS and Clinical Research, Volume 7, Issue:7, 2016.
- US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC Innovations: Real-Time Data Strengthens Uganda’s Efforts to End Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission. May 2015.
- Waisboard, Sl, et al. Communication for polio eradication: improving the quality of communication programming through real-time monitoring and evaluation.
- Liu, Chuck. 4 Ways to Harness the Power of Real-Time Analytics. Kissmetrics blog.
- Burton, Scott, et al. "Right Time, Right Place" Health Communication on Twitter: Value and Accuracy of Location Information. Journal of Medical Internet Research, Vol 14, No. 6, Nov-dec. 2012.
- Real-Time Monitoring of Twitter: How to Do it and Why it Matters, Twilert Tips, May 2014.
- Feasibility of Interactive Text message Response (ITR) as a Novel, Real-Time Measure of Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy for HIV+ Youth. 2013.
- Improving community health worker performance through automated SMS. 2012.
Banner photo: A 56-year-old auxiliary nurse midwife in Badagaon block, Jhansi district, Uttar Pradesh, India, learns how to register a beneficiary using her tablet-based mSakhi application, a mobile phone-based job aid developed by IntraHealth International under the Manthan Project. © 2015 Girdhari Bora for IntraHealth International, Courtesy of Photoshare
This report was developed by PSFK Labs for the United Nations to help them understand how technology, including social media, could help organizations understand what is happening to their most vulnerable populations in real-time.
This guide is designed to assist these programs as they establish monitoring systems that are used by frontline workers, including peer outreach workers, staff outreach supervisors, program managers, and others to understand performance.
To assist in the planning, development and implementation of social media activities, several guidelines and tools were developed to provide critical information on lessons learned, best practices, clearance information and security requirements.
RapidPro is an an open-source platform of applications that can help governments deliver rapid and vital real-time information and connect communities to lifesaving services.
A company called Rebott, based in Nigeria and New York, developed this platform to give patients an opportunity to provide feedback on the quality of care that they receive, and to give clinics more information about their patients' needs.
This mobile phone application is available for both iPhone and Android phones. It offers general information about the virus, suspected complications, and treatment options.
WASH FIT is a risk-based, continuous improvement framework with a set of tools for undertaking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) improvements as part of wider quality improvements in healthcare facilities.
In 2012, the Government of Uganda launched Option B +, a new prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission program in collaboration with WHO. The antiretroviral treatment is available for pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV.
Materials in this document are designed for training service providers who work at a variety of health facilities in Iraq. The curriculum can be used to train health professionals including physicians, nurses, midwives and other health workers in group training or, with adaptation, as a basis for individualized or self-directed learning.
HealthPhone™ is a personal video reference library and guide to better health and nutrition practices, for families and communities, including the illiterate, in their language, distributed on mobile phones.
Mo-Buzz is a social media app developed in Sri Lanka that citizens can use to:
mCenas! seeks to identify and address myths and misconceptions related to family planning among the youth in Mozambique and deliver that information via mobile phones. The content includes role model stories and informational messages short message service (SMS) messages sent to youth aged 15-24 to address family planning access and uptake.
Zambia U-Report platform provides confidential, free of charge, individualized and interactive counseling services on HIV and STIs to adolescents and youth.
This brief describes an innovative Mobile-to-Web (M2W) real-time monitoring system used in Zambia in 2013-2014.
The aim of this app is to give health workers – particularly those in remote rural areas – a tool that helps to get patients quick and efficient specialist care. The app was initially only for ophthalmology referrals, but it quickly became clear that the functionality provided by Vula was widely needed.
mSehat is a unique mobile based healthcare initiative to empower frontline health workers
