Global Health Communication
- • Promoting Digital Health Communication in Kenya
- • China CDC-Guangzhou Province Visits US CDC (Nov 08)
- • Lao PDR-Thailand Border – HIV/STI Prevention & Care (Aug 08)
- • Archive
Other Spotlights:
 |
| The e-learning center above at Garissa Provincial General Hospital prepared hospital staff to take the Respiratory Infection Control e-learning course, which was launched in January 2009. |
Spotlight: Promoting Digital Health Communication in Kenya
In Kenya, CDC National Center for Health Marketing's Global Health Communication (GHC) Team is promoting the use of information and communication technology (ICT) for improved health communications. The team is collaborating with the Kenya Ministry of Health, CDC-Kenya Global Disease Detection Division (GDD), and the Kenya Health Workforce Project.
Cathy Shoemaker, NCHM Global Health Communication Team, and Connie Maina, former NCHM Kenya project coordinator, standing by the newly installed VSAT unit at Nyeri Provincial Medical Office.
Using VSAT (very small aperture terminal) satellite technology, hardware and software has been installed in Provincial Medical Offices in all 7 of Kenya's provinces. This network is providing Internet, local office networking, and data transmission capability where there was previously little to no access. Activities in 2009 will focus on providing webinars and hands-on experience for government health workers and promoting the use of ICT for rapid information dissemination, training, and improved work flow.
In each of Kenya's 7 provinces, the VSAT system has been extended from the Provincial Medical Office to the nearby General Provincial Hospital, where the technology will be used primarily to support infection control activities at the hospital. An e-learning center is being set up to disseminate a computer-based course on respiratory infection control developed in collaboration with the Kenya Ministry of Health, African Medical and Research Foundation, CDC-Kenya GDD Division, and the National Center for Preparedness, Detection and Control of Infectious Diseases' (NCPDCID) Division of Health Quality Promotion. GHC's coordinator for the Africa region activities Cathy Shoemaker said, "This will be the first time most of these health workers have ever experienced using a computer to learn on their own, at their own speed, and then be able to walk down the hall and apply what they learned. These healthcare workers will experience firsthand the power of this technology, while being guided by trained e-learning mentors."
Jay Bernhardt, PhD, MPH, director of NCHM; Rose Ruthuthi, provincial public health nurse; and Dr. Francis Kanyingi, provincial pediatrician, check out the newly installed Internet service at the Nyeri Provincial Medical Office.
GHC is also collaborating with Danya International, Inc. to test the potential for using mobile phone technology to improve the management of tuberculosis (TB) in Kenya. A trial will be conducted using mobile telephones with video capture capability to document TB patients taking their medications. The trial will also test the effectiveness of sending SMS text messages to the patients providing motivation and information about TB. Voxiva, Safaricom, EPOS health consultants, Mediae, Nokia, and Mbagathi District Hospital are also partnering in this trial project.
"We're excited about bringing the Internet to hospitals that have never had it before," said Martha Scherzer, health communication specialist, McKing Contracting, who works with the GHC team. "But cell phones are so common in Kenya that we think this pilot project with Danya will provide us with information we can use to expand health communication and marketing in this country in really innovative ways."
For more information, please contact the Global Health Communication team at globalcomm@cdc.gov.
This article first appeared in CDC Connects, an internal Web newsletter.
Date last reviewed: April 15, 2009
Date last updated: April 15, 2009
Content source: National Center for Health Marketing
Content owner: National Center for Health Marketing