Role of Remote Case Management and community mobilization in managing COVID-19 within the context of a District Health System in Malawi
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Date
2022-04-13
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Kamuzu University of Health Sciences
Abstract
4.1 Study Type
Cross-sectional study utilising epidemiological and social science methods.
4.2 The problem
COVID-19 has had unprecedented impact on health care delivery, individuals, and communities across
the world. The extent of impact on healthcare delivery and on rural and urban communities in Malawi
remains poorly documented. To improve and minimise COVID-19 impact on healthcare delivery and on
communities, Blantyre District Health Office established the Strengthening District COVID-19 Response
(SCORE) Project. SCORE, which was supported by Kamuzu College of Health Sciences (KUHES), Cooper
Smith, and Georgetown University, included a remote triage platform (termed phone clinic), and a
community engagement intervention. These interventions were implemented between March 2021 and
September 2021. It is unclear whether the interventions achieved the intended purpose and are worth
scaling up ahead of potential further waves of COVID-19.
1.1 Objectives
Broad Objective
2 to evaluate the public health benefit of remote case management and community mobilization in
managing COVID-19 within the context of a District Health System in Malawi
Specific objectives
a) To describe the structure and burden of day-to-day management of COVID-19 enquiries and cases
in the population and coping mechanisms related to this burden prior to SCORE project
implementation of Remote Case Triage Platform and Community-Led Response.
b) To assess whether the Remote Case Triage Platform and Community-led Response were
successfully implemented against a priori set framework.
c) To investigate if the Remote Case Triage Platform and Community-Led Response of the response
improved access to COVID-19 information facilitated triaging of patients.
d) To establish access, technical, organisational, funding, and other challenges in the set up and
implementation of the Remote Case Triage Platform and Community-Led Response interventions.
e) To collate thoughts and perspectives around current and future relevance of the Remote Case
Triage Platform and Community-led Response, for COVID-19 and other health conditions.
4.3 Methodology
This is a cross-sectional study using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. We will
collect and analyse data from three sources: 1) questionnaire driven survey including members of the
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District Health Office, healthcare workers, community leaders, community volunteers, and members of
communities where the SCORE project operated, 2) focus group discussions including district health
leaders, health care workers, community healthcare workers, community leaders, community
volunteers and community members, and 3) data from the national and Blantyre electronic platforms
for remote patient management (phone clinic, Chipatala cha pa phone).
4.4 Expected findings and their dissemination.
We hope to confirm the successful translation and implementation of the SCORE concept into Blantyre
District and potential for programmatic scale up. We expect that some administrative and public health
benefits may have been registered over the third wave of COVID-19 in Blantyre. We will share results of
this work with our institutions (KUHES, Cooper Smith and Georgetown University), present at the KUHES
research dissemination conference, international conferences, and publish in a peer-reviewed journal.