eHealth Pilot in Bangladesh

The post-assessment involved collecting information from mothers of children under two years to understand their current behaviors concerning maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH), family planning, and nutrition. A total of 674 interviews with mothers were conducted in 17-30 September, with 337 interviews from each of the pilot districts. The interviews were conducted in six upazilas, 12 unions, and 24 villages, with households randomly selected using a mutually agreed method. The post-assessment of field workers was also conducted in September 2013 to understand their current knowledge and skill level about family planning, MNCH, and nutrition. A total of 329 interviews were conducted among field workers, including Health Assistants, Family Welfare Assistants, Health Inspectors, Family Planning Inspectors, and Management Information Systems personnel. The interviews aimed to assess the field workers' knowledge and skill level in comparison with the pre-assessment. Monitoring and troubleshooting activities were also conducted during the month of September. A group of Monitoring and Troubleshooting Officers visited 303 field workers, providing troubleshooting services to 39 field workers. The types of problems reported included issues with the eToolkit icon, keyboard not working, taskbar going upside down, and PDF files not opening fast enough. The problems were solved in the field by reinstalling the eToolkit, restarting the netbook, installing supporting software, setting keypad settings, and readjusting display settings. The key challenge faced by the team during this month was the tendency of field workers to use the netbooks on personal occasions. To address this issue, the team plans to provide basic troubleshooting and maintenance services to the field workers. The next steps of the pilot include providing basic troubleshooting and maintenance services, as well as ensuring that field workers use the netbooks only for official purposes. The pilot aims to improve the knowledge and skill level of field workers, as well as their ability to provide effective counseling services to mothers and children in the target areas.