The Problem

In South Africa, high numbers of people have diseases needing urgent treatment, with 30% of people with undiagnosed hypertension and 50% undiagnosed diabetes. Despite progress, 25% of people remain unaware of their HIV status. There are also gaps in under-5 children care, with 25% children experiencing stunted growth due to malnutrition.

Health clinics (run by professional nurses) have been established to provide quality primary healthcare in low-income communities across South Africa, but a high percentage of community members have undiagnosed health conditions and do not have check-ups at clinics.

This is due to poor health education and stigmas, and the cost and inconvenience of travel to health facilities. There is an urgent need to bring accessible education and screening to community members’ homes to identify people ‘at risk’ and refer them to health facilities for the diagnosis and treatment they need.

The Solution

This 6-month smart health programme was designed to address the lack of community-based education and screening in low-income communities in Gauteng. The programme was to evaluate a novel approach, equipping Community-based Health Promotion Officers (HPOs) with the Clinitouch smart health platform.

HPOs used the offline Clinitouch app on tablets to provide education and screening in the communities. They conducted screening using smart questionnaires for adult health (hypertension, diabetes, HIV testing status) and under-5 child health (immunisations, malnutrition), as well as capturing blood pressure and pulse rates using BP monitors.

Animated, health education videos and visual aids were used to educate community members on prevention, risk factors and the need to get regular check-ups. Once back online, HPOs synced Clinitouch to submit all the screenings. The HPOs also ran community campaign events to drive awareness and education around priority conditions such as hypertension.

Based on the screening data, the Clinitouch smart system generated a risk score (Red, Amber or Green) for every community member. This could be instantly reviewed on the Clinitouch portal (accessed on a web browser) by the clinic call centre team.

‘Red’ scored community members were called and referred for a consultation at a clinic (either the partner’s clinic or government clinic) as soon as possible, whereas ‘Amber’ community members were called and referred for a consultation within the next week. WhatsApp messaging was also tested as an additional follow-up mechanism to motivate referred community members to have their consultation in the recommended time.

 

The Impact 

  • Twenty newly graduated Health Promotion Officers (HPOs) effectively equipped with Clinitouch to conduct screening
  • Adult health (hypertension, diabetes, HIV) and under-5 child health (immunisations, malnutrition) screening
  • c24,500 screenings conducted by the 20 HPOs for adults and under-5 children in a 6-month pilot period
  • +8,000 ‘at risk’ Red or Amber scores identified and referred for diagnosis / treatment at health facilities

 

 

Find out more

Find out more how Clinitouch can enable remote care in even the hardest-to-reach communities.

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