mCHW : a mobile learning intervention for community health workers
Winters N., Oliver M., Mukami D., Lakati A., Mbae S., Wanjiru H., Geniets A., Henry JV., Langer L., Hakimi L., Robson J., Rega I., Ngatia P., Mbindyo C.
The mCHW project (http://www.mchw.org) – a mobile learning intervention for community health workers (CHWs) – represents an ongoing research collaboration between the Institute of Education, University of London (IoE), the University of Oxford and Amref Health Africa to advance the training and supervision of community health volunteers in Kenya, seeking improved access to primary health care for the marginalised communities of Makueni County and the Kibera informal settlement. Project researchers have worked closely with community members who provide basic medical services, called Community Health Workers (CHWs), and their supervisors, to collaboratively design, develop implement and evaluate a mobile learning intervention that better connects CHWs and supervisors. The project has employed a qualitative case study approach to understand the way in which the mobile application has influenced community healthcare practices in two research sites in Kenya: Kibera and Makueni. This dataset consists of the transcripts of 82 interviews with 24 CHWs, 9 of their supervisors and 11 other public health professionals and explores CHWs’ roles and practices over the course of the design, introduction and employment of the mobile learning intervention. The interviews set out to generate an explanation of the day-to-day practices of CHWs in their own words, and investigate how CHWs understand their roles, and the ways in which they incorporated the mobile learning intervention into their practices. The interviews have been conducted by an mCHW post doctoral researcher or an Amref researcher in the folllowing periods, and the dates of each interview are included for each transcript: 1. April-May 2013 (prior to the introduction of the mobile application) 2. December 2013- March 2014 3. August 2014 4. March 2014 5. June 2015 For a more detailed introduction to the dataset and a justification for the way it has been screened prior to deposition, please see Depositing mCHW Research Data.pdf. Enquirers seeking further information about the data are advised to contact the Department of Education directly.