dhis2-devs-core team mailing list archive

[Knut Staring <knutst@xxxxxxxxx>]

As far as I know, the ODK integration project never went very far, it was
just some of Richard Anderson's students at University of Washington.

Considering that Richard does indeed work for PATH as well and that ODK
also originates from that area, I definitely think this is something that
should be pursued with the additional funding they will provide.

Knut


On Tue, Dec 10, 2013 at 11:42 PM, Lars Helge Øverland
<larshelge@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:

> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "Jim Grace" <jimgrace@xxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Dec 10, 2013 11:30 PM
> Subject: [Dhis2-devs-core] Prepaing for the "Better Immunization Data"
> initiative "Tools Developer Summit"
> To: "DHIS 2 Core developers list" <dhis2-devs-core@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc:
>
> Hi All,
>
> I'll be representing DHIS this Thursday and Friday at the "Tools Developer
> Summit" of PATH's "Better Immunization Data" (BID) initiative (Gates
> funded), in Washington D.C. I think I'm fine preparing for the event, but I
> would welcome suggestions in two areas:
>
> 1. On Thursday morning I'll give a "lightning talk" about DHIS -- 5
> minutes, with 20 slides auto-advancing every 15 seconds. Based on the
> "challenges" below, it looks like the tracker module is of special
> interest, as it can be used in all three areas: beneficiary campaigns
> (e.g., sending texts to patients), identifying patients, and stocks
> management. So my basic idea is give a brief overview of DHIS in general,
> and then talk some about tracker. As far as ideas for slides, I see the
> slide repository on dhis.org, and I also stumbled on Kristin's very nice
> set of slides "Innovative Mobile Technologies improving health in
> developing countries" from http://www.slideshare.net/dhis2/global-citizen2
> .
>
> Are there any other slide resources I should know about? A lightning talk
> especially benefits from more pictures and fewer words (even more than a
> usual presentation.)
>
> 2. They're talking about using standard tools like DHIS as part of their
> solution to get better immunization data, with the possibility of using
> some of the grant funding to pay for software enhancements if necessary.
> After looking at the "challenges" below, what features could we add to DHIS
> for these areas, if we had more funding? (Don't worry, I won't make any new
> commitments, but I'd like to have some ideas in mind for brainstorming.)
>
> Connectivity is a big problem, and I wonder if one thing we might do is
> more powerful off-line data entry. I've seen talk of efforts to integrate
> ODK with DHIS. Where do these stand now? Is this the best way to get more
> flexible off-line data entry, or are there other approaches we should
> consider?
>
> What are the various things we know people are currently using tracker
> for? Here's what I've heard of:
>
> - Tracking patients in programs: (where?)
> - Tracking drugs stocks: South Africa(?)
> - Tracking lab test samples: CDC Global Health Security project in Uganda
>
> Thanks.
>
> The workshop "challenges" are:
>
> *Challenge A: Beneficiary campaigns*
>
> *Discuss challenges in health messaging to beneficiaries in the context of
> health education, alerts, and adherence.*
>
> Messages may need to be broadcast to a village or to a specific to an
> individual.  For example, there may need to be an alert for a village about
> an upcoming immunization campaign, notification that new vaccines are in
> stock after a period of shortage, or warning of a disease outbreak and
> anticipated symptoms.  If there is an ability to uniquely identify a mother
> and child, perhaps a targeted message can be sent to provide the mother
> with a relevant health tip based on an upcoming immunization or a reminder
> that it is time for the next vaccine, a follow-up, etc.  This may also
> include tools to improve social mobilization and awareness.
>
> *Challenge B: Patient identification*
>
> *Discuss challenges in relation to identification, tracking, and
> longitudinal records.*
>
> While a country may have unique identification of adults, this type of
> tracking seldom extends to children.  A caregiver is often given a child
> health card to track the child’s growth and vaccine history.  Whether the
> card accompanies a child to an immunization session varies.  It is
> difficult, if not impossible to determine the identity of the child who is
> brought for immunization and match it to health facility records.  At a
> health facility, there may be an individual record of a child’s vaccination
> history within a register that could be cross-referenced.  Yet this process
> can be time consuming when there is a large lineup of children waiting for
> services.  Further, if the family moves outside of the district, it is near
> impossible to see the longitudinal record of care.  Who is this particular
> child?  Did the child receive the full regimen of DTP?  Of the polio
> vaccine?  Which children are expected at the clinic this month?
>
> *Challenge C: Supply chain*
>
> *Discuss challenges in relation to stock on hand, cold chain, and stock
> management.*
>
> Beyond the district level of the health system, there is limited
> visibility into the interdependencies of the cold chain necessary for
> viable vaccines.  Often, vaccines are pushed to the outlying facilities,
> tracked on paper registers, resupplied through inefficient processes in the
> event of a stock-out, with a seeming data disconnect between what vaccines
> have been administered and what has been supplied.  Unfortunately,
> immunization officers often do not have the data to help guide efficient
> flow of vaccines when there are overstocks, when vaccines are nearing their
> expiry dates, when growing population trends predict near future shortages
> in supply, or when problems with the refrigeration foretell a need for
> immediate maintenance.
>
> Cheers,
> Jim
>
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-- 
Knut Staring
Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo
+4791880522
http://dhis2.org