Desarrollo Elemental (Fundamental Development - CHEST) – Tool for the Promotion and Surveillance of Child Health
In the isolated communities of the Peruvian Amazon, efforts have produced results: visits by community workers to homes have proven to be an effective strategy to improve childhood development. Now, as we consider ways to enhance these initiatives, is it possible to improve their effectiveness and facilitate the efforts of community workers through information and communications technologies? The objective of the Desarrollo Elemental Project is to improve the impact of home visits by complementing them with the use of a mobile application. This is an innovative tool that monitors the status of children’s health and development and also teaches caregivers through animated videos with health content. The application can be downloaded for free and adapted to other contexts with assistance from the developer team.
Problematic
Children in communities in the Peruvian Amazon are at high risk of contracting illnesses that can affect their development. Loreto, one of the departments in the Peruvian Amazon, has high levels or mortality, and its incidence of chronic child malnutrition is almost double the national rate. In 2017, the department had the second-highest incidence in the country of anemia among children 6 to 35 months old. Interventions based on home visits by community workers can promote appropriate health practices, monitor child development, and refer caregivers to health centers when necessary. However, initiatives are needed to provide community workers with easy-to-use, didactic, and effective tools that optimize their efforts to improve cognitive development, nutrition, and the prevention of illnesses in communities with limited access to health services.
Solution
Desarrollo Elemental is a free mobile application for tablets that carries out three central functions: (1) teach caregivers about healthy practices that foster childhood development; (2) monitor children’s health indicators and growth; and (3) support community workers during home visits. The community workers can record the health status of children, the presence of anemia or malnutrition, and the vaccines that have been administered. The application also enables community workers to review whether children are receiving growth check-ups and whether timely home visits have been conducted. During the home visit, the workers teach caregivers about appropriate health practices using animated videos that are selected by the application based on the age of the child. The videos were designed in accordance with the local context and address such topics as anemia, a healthy diet, diarrhea, and the importance of breastfeeding, emotional attachment, and play. Taking into account connectivity challenges, the application functions without an Internet connection.
Evaluation and Impact
A random control trial is in the process of being carried out. Community workers will be assigned to a treatment group that will receive a tablet with the Desarrollo Elemental application to be used during home visits. The control group will not receive the application and will continue to carry out home visits in the traditional manner. The main indicators that will be measured are child development and the incidence of anemia and chronic malnutrition. This evaluation will enable us to better understand the potential of the technology to support and empower community workers in areas that are very difficult to access.