Meeting Minutes, March 2012
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mHealth Working Group Meeting March 16 2012 9 30 11 30 am EDT Held at Abt Associates Bethesda MD Theme mBCC Field Guide mBCC Field Guide see Resource Worksheets for mBCC Field Guide see Resource mBCC Field Guide Evaluation Form see Resource Materials that accompany these notes are also available at www mbccfieldguide com For questions or comments please contact Kelly Keisling Keisling kelly gmail com or Laura Raney lraney fhi360 org co chairs of the mHealth Working Group The next meeting of the mHealth Working Group will be held at 9 00 am EDT on Thursday April 26th 2012 Location and call information will be announced Opening Remarks The use of mobile technology for behavior change communication mBCC has been a popular but ill organized topic in mHealth The mBCC Field Guide addresses the need for focused and practical guidance for the design and implementation of mHealth It builds on established planning procedures to enable mainstreaming within program planning in the field We hope that methodical planning will reduce uncertainties in mHealth and lead to more effective scalable and sustainable efforts in mHealth mBCC Field Guide by Shalu Umapathy Gael O Sullivan and Stephen Rahaim Abt Associates This Field Guide provides methodical instructions on how to use the power of mobile communication tools to influence health behaviors at both the consumer and healthcare provider levels The mBCC Field Guide is a living document that will require updating Feedback can be shared at www mbccfieldguide com The accompanying evaluation form or general comments can be sent to Gael O Sullivan at Gael O Sullivan abtassoc com It also accompanied by a mBCC Field Guide Worksheet which is in excel format to allow adaptation by program planners The mBCC Field Guide is authored by Abt Associates Inc on behalf of the mHealth Working Group with input from Applied Innovation and Development Partners FHI 360 The Georgetown University Institute for Reproductive Health Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs University Research Corporation and the United States Agency for International Development It is based on a publication of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs JHU CCP entitled A Field Guide to Designing a Health Communication Strategy The mBCC Field Guide is focused health communication but could also be adapted for other fields such as environmental protection The mBCC Field Guide is arranged in nine chapters regarding program planning which in return refer to sections of the accompanying worksheet 1 situation analysis 2 formative research 3 audience segmentation 4 behavior change objectives 5 message and material development 6 pretesting 7 production 8 implementation 9 monitoring and evaluation M E The first chapter Situation Analysis provides instructions on how to conduct an abridged assessment of the audience required infrastructure and financial constraints This includes determining whether mobile phones are an appropriate channel for your program objectives BCC theory is also considered such as the social cognitive theory in the case study for reproductive health The Situation Analysis chapter refers to Section 1 in the mBCC Field Guide Worksheet The Audience Segmentation chapter considers many factors to help you identify and understand audiences This includes the context of the audience s mobile communication and the role of influencing audiences For example husbands may be an influencing audience when wives have limited direct access to mobile phones The Audience Segmentation chapter refers to Sections 2 and 3 in the mBCC Field Guide Worksheet The Behavior Change Objectives chapter focuses is on developing objectives for behavior change and health needs that are SMART These measurable objectives can be complemented by the interim metrics that are provided for the mobile channel The objectives will vary if you are using mobile phones as a standalone communication channel instead of as part of a multi channel integrated BCC program Mobile phones may complement other channels rather than replace them The Behavior Change Objectives chapter refers to Section 4 in the mBCC Field Guide Worksheet The Message Development chapter discusses formative research to developing appropriate messages for the audience Formative research and pretesting can be important for adapting to language and literacy requirements in a 160 character SMS or interactive voice response IVR The Message Development chapter refers to Section 5 Creative Brief in the mBCC Field Guide Worksheet which can be used by partners such as advertising agencies The Tools Technologies chapter addresses selection of communication support tools and technologies to deliver mBCC messages as well as their incorporation with other channels Tools can be designed for one one communication a phone call to a patient one to many reminders to all patients many to one a national radio station asking listeners to SMS responses to a health quiz or many to many chat rooms or mobile forums The chapter covers the reach frequency platforms and applications for communication as well as the capacity of your organization to manage a technology based program The Tools Technologies chapter refers to Sections 6 7 and 8 in the mBCC Field Guide Worksheet The Monitoring Evaluation chapter discusses M E challenges that are unique to mBCC A case study illustrates the need for monitoring message reception is necessary to resolve problems and reach audiences Evaluating the impact of mBCC can also be difficult in a multi channel campaign The Monitoring Evaluation chapter refers to the M E template in the mBCC Field Guide Worksheet Group Discussion and Q A Participants said the mBCC Field Guide makes it easier to discuss mHealth with colleagues that are unfamiliar with mHealth Comments highlighted numerous sections of the Field Guide It is important to reiterate the Field Guide s point that mHealth is one of many tools for BCC and should not be seen as a substitute for traditional methods The Field Guide is focused on low end phones rather than smart phones because the need to reach broad audiences in low resource countries The Field Guide also acknowledges of reaching target populations due to literacy and access barriers and the importance of proximate literacy through communication with secondary beneficiaries The risks of negative consequences are also covered in the sections on sensitive information and privacy in the Situation Analysis chapter Each of these topics may merit further exploration Participants also raised numerous ways to improve and expand the mBCC Field Guide A section could list ways to evaluate technology tools for mBCC A check sheet for cost would also make it easier to estimate the costs of using technology tools The Field Guide s List of Acronyms could also be expanded into a mBCC glossary Guidance for mBCC would also be welcome on past failures behavioral incentives discussion with mobile operators and games for mobile phones A case study library was suggested to meet these needs Regarding next steps use of the mBCC Field Guide and feedback are encouraged It has been announced on various listservs and further dissemination is welcome The Field Guide could help donors partners and mHealth technology providers seeking guidance on program planning The mBCC Field Guide can also be complemented by the a related guide Communications for change How to use text messaging as an effective behavior change campaigning tool produced by FrontlineSMS and Text to Change and available at http www frontlinesms com wp content uploads 2012 03 TTC Online Final pdf It was also suggested that the a discussion on mBCC would be convenient to schedule with interested field staff at the Global Health Council conference About the mHealth Working Group Founded in 2009 the mHealth Working Group is a collaborative forum for convening knowledge sharing promising practices collaboration capacity building advocacy and member leadership Composed of more than 600 individuals representing over 150 organizations worldwide the mHealth Working Group seeks to frame mobile technology within a larger global health strategy By applying public health standards and practices to mHealth we promote approaches that are appropriate evidence based interoperable scalable and sustainable in resource poor settings The mHealth Working Group is facilitated and supported by USAID s K4Health Project Our advisory board includes Abt Associates Catholic Relief Services FHI360 Georgetown University Institute for Reproductive Health Jhpiego John Snow Inc Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs Management Sciences for Health Population Services International and Save the Children Minutes from monthly meetings as well as more information about the group are on the mHealth Toolkit at http www k4health org toolkits mhealth mhealth working group 0 Interested colleagues are welcome to receive future announcements by joining the listserv at knowledge gateway org mhealth Meeting Participants mHealth Working Group Meeting March 16 2012 Name Organization 1 Awa Dieng Abt Associates 2 Gael O Sullivan Abt Associates 3 Michael Rodriguez Abt Associates 4 Michael Rodriguez Abt Associates 5 Pam Riley Abt Associates 6 Shalu Umapathy Abt Associates 7 Stephen Rahaim Abt Associates 8 Aleya Horn Kennedy ARHP 9 Carrie Miller Catholic Relief Services 10 Sarah Emerson CDC Foundation 11 Cathryn Wood Development Media International 12 Nick Amland Dimagi 13 Caitlin K Murphy FHI360 14 Laura Raney FHI360 15 Michael Pezone FHI360 16 Lawrence Wasserman Forsight 2000 17 Rick Doerr GBI 18 Soumya Alva ICF International 19 Meredith Puleio IRH 20 Meredith Puleio IRH 21 Angela Nash Mercado JHU CCP 22 Kirstin Bose JHU CCP 23 Mohamad Sy Ar JHU CCP 24 Darrin Adams Johns Hopkins SPH 25 David Kulick Louisiana Public Health Institute 26 Judy Gold Marie Stopes International 27 Scott Teesdale MCDI 28 Kelly Keisling mHealth Working Group 29 Suzanne McQuesy MSH 30 Kristin Saucier PASMO 31 Andrew Karlyn Pop Council 32 Julie McBride PSI 33 Jessica Glickman RI 34 Marco Ambrosio Sapient 35 David V Isaak SixBlue Data 36 Jennifer A White US State Department 37 Andrei Sinioukov USAID 38 Adam Slote USAID 39 Andrea Harris USAID 40 Kama Garrison USAID 41 Megan Matthews USAID 42 Noah Sprafkin USAID 43 Peggy D Adamo USAID
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Monthly Meeting Minutes, Monthly Meeting Minutes, Monthly Meeting Minutes, mBCC, Behavior Change Communication, BCC