Description of Session
In 2018- mid 2019, Viamo worked with the Ministry of Health/Rwanda Biomedical Centre and a multinational private pharmaceutical company on an innovative remote training strategy using simple mobile phones that are readily accessible to Community Health Workers. Viamo delivered remote training in the form of a four-week curriculum on mental health issues to 55,000+ community health workers in Rwanda using Interactive Voice Responses (IVR). IVR comprises automated voice messages delivered straight to the CHWs’ own mobile phone in the form of a pre-recorded voice call. The curriculum was a combination of interactive voice messages and comprehension quizzes. The intended outcome of the project was that CHWs would have an increased understanding of what constitutes a mental health issue, different types of common disorders, causes and how they can best support people in their communities suffering from mental illness. The project would additionally increase CHWs' confidence to correctly identify a person suffering from mental illness, refer them to hospitals and educate other community members on mental illnesses in the lead up to the anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. Viamo proposes a panel presentation to share how this innovative training method was created, the initial results of the project, and the implications for remote training in the future. Viamo's goal is to avoid "hit and run" workshops with no follow-up or in-field mentoring by developing mobile curriculums co-designed to fit the goals of in-person training. At this presentation, Viamo will announce training results and data, including initial findings that show mobile training supports peer to peer informal learning, and share our recommendations for data collection for program evaluation.
