Following “lessons learned” from previous pilots with the MyHealth@Hand app in Uganda, Rwanda and Ghana, Health[e]Foundation together with the developers at Industry62 improved the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to be tested in the next country: Tanzania.
In the first week of October, our team traveled to the Sanitas Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to initiate this MVP pilot. The week started with a presentation for the healthcare workers at Sanitas Hospital about the app and a practical session where the team of midwives, medical doctors and obstetricians could test both the mom and healthcare worker’s app. The two-day training included 14 healthcare workers who will in turn, recruit pregnant women to use the app. Following the kick off, our team remained present at the Sanitas Hospital to support the initiation process. The app was received with great enthusiasm, because the app promotes awareness and easy client-provider interaction which is very welcome in the hospital. The pilot will run for 2 months after which, we will return in December to evaluate our users’ experiences.
For next year the application is expected to be scaled up to multiple countries. Therefore, we keep a keen eye to ensure that the app can consider cultural and language differences, and local health standards such that the app is well accepted by the communities around the globe. It is great to see how this new tool fits into the current health system approach and supports local communities.