It’s not possible to carry hundreds of DHS (Demographic and Health Surveys) reports to every meeting, or even sort through all of those PDFs on your laptop. Many program managers and policymakers in developing countries don’t have a full library of DHS reports or reliable access to an Internet connection to visit the MEASURE DHS website. Yet the expectation is that policy- and program-related decisions be data-driven, based on the evidence provided through research like the Demographic and Health Surveys.

The MEASURE DHS Mobile App

Luckily the rapidly growing use of mobile phones, including smart phones, has opened up a new channel for reaching DHS data users, both in Washington, DC, and in developing countries across the world. According to Pingdom, 15% of Africa’s internet browsing in May 2012 came from mobile devices, an increase of more than 150% from 2010. Now these users have an easy tool for accessing the most basic DHS information: the MEASURE DHS Mobile app.

MEASURE DHS mobile provides national-level data for 25 key indicators across 90 countries, including fertility, family planning use, vaccination, childhood mortality, nutrition, HIV testing and prevalence, maternal health, ITN use, and some basic background data such as literacy, education, and access to electricity. The data can be viewed in a chart or a table to compare across countries or over time in countries that have had more than one DHS survey. These key indicators can also be viewed on a map.

K4Health is excited to announce the addition of a Case Studies tab on the Knowledge Management for Health and Development Toolkit. The new tab features a collection of two- to four-page stories that document knowledge management (KM) activities and programs. The purpose of these case studies is to supplement the tools and resources in the Knowledge Management for Health and Development Toolkit with real life experiences.  

The Knowledge Management for Health and Development Toolkit

Collected, written, and reviewed by members of the Global Health Knowledge Collaborative, these case studies highlight activities that are relevant and useful to KM practitioners. They also offer information about strategies, challenges, successes, lessons learned, and recommendations for others

The following case studies are now available:

• Applying KM Techniques to Promote Learning: the Uganda National Quality Improvement Conference This case study talks about the National Quality Improvement (QI) Conference, during which peer-to-peer learning allowed participants to share and apply different approaches to improve the quality of healthcare in Uganda.
• Health Care Providers Gain Access to Up-To-Date-Guidelines This case study highlights Kenya’s Division of Reproductive Health, which worked with FHI 360 to revamp and redesign its current website so Kenyan health professionals can access high-quality, up-to-date policies and guidelines in reproductive health.
• The New Partners Initiative Timesheet Module: E-Learning to Support Knowledge Management This case study describes the New Partners Initiative Timesheet Training Series e-Learning modules, which were designed to capture United States Government regulations, financial best practices documents, and individual staff expertise. These modules have allowed users to practice and apply the concepts they learned in real time.
• Using Knowledge Management to Improve the Performance of Global Fund Recipients: The Grants Management Solutions Project This case study discusses the Grant Management Solutions (GMS) project, conducted eight Consultant Orientation Workshops to strengthen the capacity of GMS consultants in various regions. This was put into place to address the limited capacity in governance, project oversight, grant and financial management faced by some recipients from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

One thing I enjoy about visiting Nigeria and working with our partners who regulate and promote laboratory science is helping institute change to the Nigerian health system. In an article from the Nigeria Tribune, the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN) points out that according to the 2011 Mo Ibrahim African Governance Index, Nigeria’s health service ranks 51st out of the 54 countries in Africa.

No matter which health system building block you are trying to improve, you need specific data, information, and knowledge to inform your decision-making process—this is where good knowledge management comes in handy.

“The Intersection of Knowledge Management and Health Systems Strengthening: Implications from the Malawi Knowledge for Health Demonstration Project” provides an interesting case study of the connection between improved knowledge management and health systems strengthening.  Even though the K4Health Malawi project was focused on improving gaps in the FP/RH and HIV/AIDS information pathway (specifically links between information use and performance), we saw wider heath system improvements as a result of the KM improvements implemented. A happy turn of events!

K4Health Knowledge Management/Health Systems Strengthening Conceptual Framework

The project’s evaluation (report forthcoming) highlights 10 ways that this project improved health system performance across five of the six building blocks: health information; health workforce; medicines, vaccines, and technology; service delivery; and leadership and governance. The 6^th building block, health financing, was not directly affected, though we can see already ways that KM could improve health financing in other programs.