DOT-COM Activity: Nepal Health Monitoring Pilot Project
DOT:dot-ORG
Country: Nepal
Funder(s): USAID/ANE
Short Description: With SATELLIFE and other dot-ORG partners, this project is testing hand-held computers or personal digital assistants (PDAs) and global positioning systems (GPS) to be used by community health workers to quickly and accurately collect important survey data on vitamin A distribution.
Phase/Type of Activity: Buy-in or Incremental Funding Status: Completed
Start date: December 01, 2003 End Date: April 15, 2005
Contact
Christopher Light , Sr. Program Officer
dot-ORG , Academy for Educational Development Email: Tel: 202 884-8762
Full Description: USAID/Nepal and USAID/Asia and Near East Bureau (ANE) are funding the dot-ORG Nepal Health Monitoring Pilot Project to explore the use of ICTs for health monitoring. With SATELLIFE and other dot-ORG partners, the project is testing hand-held computers or personal digital assistants (PDAs) and global positioning systems (GPS) to be used by community health workers to quickly and accurately collect important survey data on vitamin A distribution. SATELLIFE, HealthNet Nepal (HNN), AED/dot-ORG, USAID/Nepal, and local implementing partners are working together to test the use PDAs combined with GPS devices to collect data. This data will help create geographic information systems (GIS) to enhance ongoing monitoring and evaluation efforts for a USAID/Nepal-supported vitamin A distribution program.
Funded through the dot-ORG Access associate award, AED is providing the monitoring and evaluation component of the project and a write up of the lessons learned from the experience. It is anticipated that a successful model would be promoted for replication across USAID.
Update: (December 2004)
Due to worsening security situation in Nepal, NTAG has delayed its second round vitamin-A survey that was scheduled for December 2004. A final partners' meeting is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2005.
Update & Snapshot of Results & Lessons: (June 2005)
The project is now closed. See the final report.
Most NTAG and NFHP users found the PDAs and the applications to be easy to use and fast. Correcting data, however, was easier to do on paper forms.
NTAG and NFHP staff reported that respondents were comfortable answering survey questions and that the use of the PDA did not seem to affect their interaction.
NTAG and NFHP did not experience any problems with the equipment or any loss of data but there were some problems with power. Power chargers may be a suitable solution.
The PDAs are particularly useful for surveys but not as useful for monitoring visits that require a more qualitative approach.
The challenge of transforming paper forms into PDA-based forms in a local script should not be underestimated.
Development Sector(s): Maternal and Child Health
ICT Intervention(s): PDA/handheld device
Links and Files:
Nepal Health Monitoring Pilot Project - Final Report
Final Report, June 2005: Highlights implementation issues and lessons learned.
Project Brief: Nepal Health Monitoring Project
This project brief was developed for the March 2006 TAG meeting. It provides an overview of the project at completion, highlighting results and lessons learned.
Core funding for the DOT-COM Alliance is provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture & Trade, Office of Infrastructure and Engineering (EGAT/OI&E), Office of Education (EGAT/ED), and Office of Women in Development (EGAT/WID), under the terms of Award numbers: GDG-A-00-01-00009-00, dot-GOV; GDG-A-00-01-00014-00, dot-ORG; GDG-A-00-01-00011-00, dot-EDU.
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