An Innovative Mobile Technology Intervention for Maternal and Child Health Care in Cambodia

NCT05639595 | Unknown DMC

• 1 other identifier: INV-022514
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 2,400
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The Innovative Mobile Technology for Maternal and Child Health Care (i-MoMCARE) project is a digital health intervention aiming to increase the coverage of and access to maternal and child health (MCH) services for pregnant women and their babies in rural communities in Cambodia. We will fully adopt an innovative model (ImTeCHO) developed, successfully implemented, and evaluated by Society for Education, Welfare and Action-Rural (SEWA Rural) in Gujarat, India. This study will take advantage of Cambodia's well-structured healthcare system, increased internet coverage, and the sharp rise in smartphone adoption to implement innovative mobile technology intervention. i-MoMCARE will provide village health support groups (VHSGs) access and training in mobile-based job aid (mobile apps) to facilitate their work with pregnant women and mothers in the villages. Using mobile apps, VHSGs can register pregnant women and mothers, (re)schedule health care appointments, develop a digital record of the medical history of pregnant women and mothers, show educational videos to pregnant women and mothers, and alert health center staff on high-risk cases. i-MoMCARE will also offer health center staff access to the web interface where they can do longitudinal tracking of VHSGs' log-in rate, track the medical history of patients, and screen for complications and referrals. In Cambodia, long distances to health facilities and inadequate education for women of reproductive age are among the determinants of poor health outcomes, predominantly in rural communities, where the demand for MCH services is high. VHSGs could help overcome the long distance to health facilities with mobile technology. i-MoMCARE could also improve women's understanding of the importance of regular antenatal and postnatal utilization and vaccination and, by extension, reduce high-risk cases and maternal and child deaths. This study is the first to be implemented in Cambodia, contributing to the use of digital health in MCH interventions, which remain in their infancy.

Conditions

Maternal and Child Health

Keywords

Maternal and child health; Primary healthcare; Community health workers; Access to services; Low- and middle-income countries

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• The proportion of neonates/mothers visited at home by village health volunteers

  The proportion of neonates/mothers visited at home by VHSGs at least twice within the first week of delivery

  In the past 12 months

• The proportion of neonates/mothers receiving information from village health volunteers regarding danger signs of newborn illnesses

  2\. The proportion of neonates/mothers receiving information from VHSGs regarding danger signs of newborn illnesses within the first week of delivery

  In the past 12 months

Secondary Outcomes (8)

• Mothers completing at least 4 antenatal care

  In the past 12 months

• Mothers receiving recommended services

  In the past 12 months

• Mothers visited by village health volunteers

  In the past 12 months

• Deliveries by skilled provider and in a health facility

  In the past 12 months

• Mothers with complications seeking care

  In the past 12 months

Study Arms (2)

Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

The designated health center staff will receive a web interface that will allow them to offer job aid for supervision, including real-time information about VHSGs' performance in the form of process indicators and coverage of MCH services. The tool will also support health center staff in their daily tasks, such as high-risk patient tracking, low-supply-inventory alerts, supply chain management, electronic health records, vital events tracking, and automatic calculation of performance-based incentives and motivation for VHSGs. The mobile application will be offered to two female VHSGs from each of the 200 villages connected to their respective health centers in the intervention arm. The mobile application will provide job aid to VHSGs for scheduling home visit tasks, including ANC, home-based newborn care, reporting outcomes of pregnancies, and follow-up visits of complicated cases.

Device: Web interface for health center staff and mobile application on smart phones for village health volunteers

Control

NO INTERVENTION

All villages under the health center's catchment areas in the control arm will continue to receive the MCH standard care provided by the government and other local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and facilitated by VHSGs. VHSGs in both intervention and control arms will receive refresher training on maternal, neonatal, and childcare to avoid ethical issues that may arise and to ensure that change in outcomes in the intervention arm is due only to i-MoMCARE, but not the VHSGs MCH training.

Interventions

Web interface for health center staff and mobile application on smart phones for village health volunteers DEVICE

The designated health center staff will receive a web interface that will allow them to offer job aid for supervision, including real-time information about VHSGs' performance in the form of process indicators and coverage of MCH services. The tool will also support health center staff in their daily tasks, such as high-risk patient tracking, low-supply-inventory alerts, supply chain management, electronic health records, vital events tracking, and automatic calculation of performance-based incentives and motivation for VHSGs. The mobile application will be offered to two female VHSGs from each of the 200 villages connected to their respective health centers in the intervention arm. The mobile application will provide job aid to VHSGs for scheduling home visit tasks, including ANC, home-based newborn care, reporting outcomes of pregnancies, and follow-up visits of complicated cases.

Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 49 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Mothers of children aged 6-24 months
• Pregnant women aged 18-49

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National University of Singapore: lead
• Saglik Bilimleri Universitesi: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Battambang Provincial Health Department

Battambang, Cambodia

RECRUITING

Related Publications (1)

• Saing CH, Ung M, Suy S, Oy S, Dary C, Yam ELY, Chhorn S, Nagashima-Hayashi M, Khuon D, Mam S, Kim R, Saphonn V, Yi S. i-MoMCARE: Innovative Mobile Technology for Maternal and Child Health Care in Cambodia-study protocol of a cluster randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2023 Oct 26;24(1):692. doi: 10.1186/s13063-023-07724-z.

  PMID: 37880782 DERIVED

Study Officials

• Siyan Yi, PhD

  National University of Singapore

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Siyan Yi, PhD

CONTACT

+6587533823; siyan@doctor.com

Mengieng Ung, PhD

CONTACT

+6582342271; mung@nus.edu.sg

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 26, 2022
• First Posted: December 6, 2022
• Study Start: June 1, 2023
• Primary Completion: December 31, 2024
• Study Completion: December 31, 2024
• Last Updated: November 13, 2023

Record last verified: 2023-11

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, CSR

Locations

CA (1)