mHealth Mobile Messaging Toolkit
By By Brian Taliesin, product and development packaging lead, the BID Initiative
Oct 22, 2014
Posted in Products
With the BID Initiative, we understand the critical role that mobile technology can play in furthering positive health outcomes. Currently in Tanzania, we are practicing using SMS messages to register new births into the electronic immunization registry from a health facility or community leader. However, deciding where to start when considering SMS messages for a health campaign can be overwhelming.
PATH recently launched a new publication, mHealth Mobile Messaging Toolkit: Considerations When Selecting a Mobile Messaging Platform Vendor, designed to provide practical guidance for mHealth project implementers looking to find the right mobile messaging vendor to meet their unique project needs.
I’ll be facilitating a free online course on the 5th of November at 10:00am EST to walk implementers through how the toolkit can be used in the real world. During the same session Dr. Peter Benjamin, Director of mHelp, will be providing an overview of the unique set of services that mHELP provides to mHealth implementers.
You can register for the session here and I really hope you can join us!
Here’s a little more, from the toolkit itself, on what it is about, who it is for, and why we wrote it:
What? This toolkit provides information about currently available mobile messaging technology solutions, as well as things to consider when selecting a vendor and deploying a mobile health, or mHealth, campaign. It is meant to be used with other resources on project design, content development, and behavioral change communications, including Planning an Information Systems Project: A Toolkit for Public Health Managers.
Who? This toolkit is designed for mHealth project implementers looking to deploy mobile messaging campaigns to encourage healthy participant behaviors in low- and middle-income countries. Whether a project is in the early design phase or preparing for implementation, this toolkit will help project implementers navigate through critical questions ensuring that the vendor of choice matches the goals and needs of the pilot project as well as the project at scale.
Why? The mobile technology marketplace is very dynamic. Not only is the technology evolving but so are the infrastructure and politics around mobile communications. This toolkit looks to provide frameworks for evaluating the best solution for a mHealth project within this environment.
The mHealth Mobile Messaging Toolkit was developed by PATH with funding from mHELP and the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA). MAMA delivers vital health information via mobile phones to new and expectant mothers living in poverty throughout the developing world. MAMA’s Country Programs in Bangladesh, South Africa and India have reached 1.6 million moms and families.
For more information, please comment below or contact me at btaliesin@path.org.
In case you weren’t able to join us, here is a recording of the webinar.