TITLE:
Use of Smartphone for Supportive Supervision in Nigeria
AUTHORS:
O. Onuka, O. Madukwe, N. Chukwueme, M. Gidado, U. Emperor, K. Agbaiyero, O. Adeleke
KEYWORDS:
Smartphone, Supervision
JOURNAL NAME:
iBusiness,
Vol.7 No.2,
May
12,
2015
ABSTRACT: Background: Based on
in-country consultations, capacity to provide high-quality TB/TBHIV services is
sub-optimal and not unrelated to weak supervision. Within the National TB Program (NTP) in Nigeria, supervision is
entirely paper based; time consuming and structured in a way that rapid review
of results is neither available nor timely resolution of problems. Objective:
Describe the value of smart phones in improving quality of supervision. Methods:
This is a descriptive study. With the NTP open to exploring innovative ways of
strengthening supervision, Health Systems 20/20 in collaboration with the NTP
proposed a pilot use of smart phones for supervision at health facilities, with
focus in Abia state. The State was purposively selected for the study. A stake-holders
meeting was convened to fully engage all key TB partners. Situation analysis
was conducted in Abia state, a south-east state selected for the pilot, out of
which 4 facilities were identified. National and state supervisory checklists
were reviewed, programmed & uploaded unto the smart phones. The State TB
teams were trained on the use of the smart phone & 6 supervisory visits
were conducted within 4 consecutive quarters in Abia state for each facility. Results:
Within the pilot sites, the smart phones were noted to be user friendly with
rapid review of results done at each visit. Immediate feedback and corrective
action for identified challenges were made. However, the record of previous
findings and recommendations could not be retrieved on the spot during
subsequent visits due to storage capacity of the phone. The time spent on
supervision was reduced to 2 hrs per facility using the smart phones compared
to 4 hrs when using the paper based at other sites. With scale up from 4 to 45
DOT centers, the treatment success rate in the state TB program increased from
76% in 2011 to 85% in 2012 reporting year, for cases registered in the previous
year. Conclusions: NTP through support of other partners should adopt and scale
up the use of smart phones for supervision nationwide.