With great pleasure, let me introduce the “Connect for Life” Project brought by J&J Global Public Health organization, that soon will move into OpenMRS environment.
Connect for Life offers patients information to manage their health better. Specifically, the platform provides Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and SMS text functionalities including but not limited to medication reminders, clinic visit reminders, health tips and functionality to support symptom reporting. At the clinic and program level, data collected through the Connect for Life platform allows HCPs and program managers to track the patients, analyze results at the patient population level, create reports that can be sent to authorities, and plan capabilities that are required to adapt and improve service delivery and strengthen the health system.
For instance, in India, a support program including a Connect for Life service (m-Maitri) was implemented by SAATHII, a non-profit NGO, to provide HIV positive pregnant women with voice health messages on their mobile phones. Topics covered include information on nutrition, safe delivery practices, infant care and the importance of HIV treatment adherence. The service also sends automated reminders when an infant diagnosis test or immunization is due and collects responses about treatment adherence rates. Results are shared with community health workers to triage women most at need for immediate and closer follow up. Comparative analysis showed strong evidence that the service increased retention in the care cascade of mother and baby pair, and led to higher rates of completion of infant diagnosis tests. Although Connect for Life has mainly been used in HIV/AIDS, the tool is fully configurable and can support prevention, treatment and information campaigns around any types of diseases and conditions.
You can learn more about this project on this website: http://www.connect-for-life.org
In September we will organize the high-level kick-off presentation for the community and the developers - when we determine the date, I’ll create another Talk topic for it.
We want to know your opinion about the Connect for Life itself and it features: what do you think about IVR and SMS text for OpenMRS?
If you have any questions, we will be happy to answer them.