As part of SEAD and USAID's objective to contribute to a broadened and enhanced understanding of the conditions that foster or inhibit effective, sustainable, and scalable innovations in health and healthcare, this summer we put forth an RFP to Duke researchers for projects exploring scaling the impact of global health innovation. The response we received was exciting and our team had a wealth of research projects to consider as a result!
While it was a difficult decision, we narrowed down the field to these four projects for this year. Researchers will be tackling a range of issues from postpartum hemorrhage treatment training in East Africa to social media impact evaluation in Latin America. We look forward to seeing what insights they obtain through their research! Below you can read more about each project and the work that they will be doing. If you would like to find out about future SEAD RFPs, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter.
While it was a difficult decision, we narrowed down the field to these four projects for this year. Researchers will be tackling a range of issues from postpartum hemorrhage treatment training in East Africa to social media impact evaluation in Latin America. We look forward to seeing what insights they obtain through their research! Below you can read more about each project and the work that they will be doing. If you would like to find out about future SEAD RFPs, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter.
A successful postpartum hemorrhage training feasibility test remotely connecting members from Uganda (left) with team members in Durham (right).
Allan Shang/Praekelt Foundation: “A Database of Mobile Technology and Cellphone Distribution in South Africa”
Despite being the world's poorest continent, cellphone ownership in Africa approaches almost 80%. We propose to investigate the unprecedented spread of these devices, especially into the poorest, most remote rural areas and develop a model of the distribution pattern. This model would not only attempt to characterize this pattern but also determine the level of technology in use and, if possible, the capabilities of the data network in these rural areas. Using this information, appropriately designed, cellphone-driven medical devices could be disseminated along these targeted distribution routes to the population with the fewest resources and the greatest need.
Gary Bennet, Erica Levine: “A Process & Impact Evaluation of Pro Mujer’s Facebook Intervention: Pro Mujer Salud”
Little is known about how workplaces can leverage social media sites like Facebook to encourage adoption of healthy behaviors and change social norms regarding physical activity and better nutrition. This is especially true in the developing world where chronic disease is becoming increasingly prevalent. Pro Mujer is a social entrepreneurship organization that provides poor women in Latin America with the means to build livelihoods for themselves and their families through financial services, business training, and health care support. The Global Digital Health Science Center at Duke, in partnership with Pro Mujer, is conducting an evaluation of Pro Mujer’s Facebook platform to determine the reach, participation patterns, and engagement levels of the page among staff members. Additionally, we will evaluate the Facebook page’s effect on beliefs about the ease and effectiveness of chronic disease prevention habits such as: eating more fruits and vegetables, avoiding sugary drinks, good oral hygiene, and increasing physical activity.
Jeff Taekman: “Postpartum Hemorrhage Education Via Simulation”
An inter-professional team in the Human Simulation and Patient Safety Center (HSPSC) is pioneering the use of scalable and distributable healthcare simulation using commercial game technology with a multi-player module that specifically addresses postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). As a proof-of-concept for global health, the PPH simulation software will be used to address gaps in care at Mulago International Referral Hospital in Kampala, Uganda, and to decrease disparities in healthcare education. We will host inter-professional, interactive, games-based simulation training sessions from Durham to Mulago using the Internet. This pilot program aims to reduce the incidence of postpartum hemorrhage, to serve as a broader model for using simulation to scale education and spread virtual learning through the developing world, and to collect preliminary data to support a future proposal to study the efficacy of screen-based/games-based learning in global health.
Key personnel include: Jeff Taekman (MD) who is the Principal Investigator, Megan Foureman (CRNA, MSN), Amy Mauritz (MD), Adeyemi Olufolabi (MB.BS; DCH; FRCA), Michael Steele (BS) and Genevieve DeMaria (BS).
Janet Schwartz, Dan Ariely: “Using Behavioral Science to Improve Linda Jamii Registration and Enrollment in Kenya”
Linda Jamii is a non-profit micro-insurance scheme that provides low and middle-income Kenyans with a financial savings mechanism for health insurance. As is the case in many emerging economies, formal insurance products can be slow to catch on because strong cultural norms guide people to rely more on communal support than formal insurance. Unfortunately, these communal mechanisms are not always enough to cover expenses and people must resort to selling property to finance healthcare. This makes emerging from poverty that much more difficult. This project’s goal is to leverage insights from the behavioral sciences to boost registration and continued enrollment in Linda Jamii health insurance.
Despite being the world's poorest continent, cellphone ownership in Africa approaches almost 80%. We propose to investigate the unprecedented spread of these devices, especially into the poorest, most remote rural areas and develop a model of the distribution pattern. This model would not only attempt to characterize this pattern but also determine the level of technology in use and, if possible, the capabilities of the data network in these rural areas. Using this information, appropriately designed, cellphone-driven medical devices could be disseminated along these targeted distribution routes to the population with the fewest resources and the greatest need.
Gary Bennet, Erica Levine: “A Process & Impact Evaluation of Pro Mujer’s Facebook Intervention: Pro Mujer Salud”
Little is known about how workplaces can leverage social media sites like Facebook to encourage adoption of healthy behaviors and change social norms regarding physical activity and better nutrition. This is especially true in the developing world where chronic disease is becoming increasingly prevalent. Pro Mujer is a social entrepreneurship organization that provides poor women in Latin America with the means to build livelihoods for themselves and their families through financial services, business training, and health care support. The Global Digital Health Science Center at Duke, in partnership with Pro Mujer, is conducting an evaluation of Pro Mujer’s Facebook platform to determine the reach, participation patterns, and engagement levels of the page among staff members. Additionally, we will evaluate the Facebook page’s effect on beliefs about the ease and effectiveness of chronic disease prevention habits such as: eating more fruits and vegetables, avoiding sugary drinks, good oral hygiene, and increasing physical activity.
Jeff Taekman: “Postpartum Hemorrhage Education Via Simulation”
An inter-professional team in the Human Simulation and Patient Safety Center (HSPSC) is pioneering the use of scalable and distributable healthcare simulation using commercial game technology with a multi-player module that specifically addresses postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). As a proof-of-concept for global health, the PPH simulation software will be used to address gaps in care at Mulago International Referral Hospital in Kampala, Uganda, and to decrease disparities in healthcare education. We will host inter-professional, interactive, games-based simulation training sessions from Durham to Mulago using the Internet. This pilot program aims to reduce the incidence of postpartum hemorrhage, to serve as a broader model for using simulation to scale education and spread virtual learning through the developing world, and to collect preliminary data to support a future proposal to study the efficacy of screen-based/games-based learning in global health.
Key personnel include: Jeff Taekman (MD) who is the Principal Investigator, Megan Foureman (CRNA, MSN), Amy Mauritz (MD), Adeyemi Olufolabi (MB.BS; DCH; FRCA), Michael Steele (BS) and Genevieve DeMaria (BS).
Janet Schwartz, Dan Ariely: “Using Behavioral Science to Improve Linda Jamii Registration and Enrollment in Kenya”
Linda Jamii is a non-profit micro-insurance scheme that provides low and middle-income Kenyans with a financial savings mechanism for health insurance. As is the case in many emerging economies, formal insurance products can be slow to catch on because strong cultural norms guide people to rely more on communal support than formal insurance. Unfortunately, these communal mechanisms are not always enough to cover expenses and people must resort to selling property to finance healthcare. This makes emerging from poverty that much more difficult. This project’s goal is to leverage insights from the behavioral sciences to boost registration and continued enrollment in Linda Jamii health insurance.
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