Training community health volunteers to use mobile platform during the COVID-19 pandemic: The Kenya experience

Anne W. MbwayoMuthoni Mathai, Teresia Mutavi, Stella Waruinge, Noah Triplett,Tessa Concepcion, Pamela Y. Collins[Opens in a new window] and Shannon Dorsey

Abstract

This study describes an alternative to face-to-face training method for community health volunteers (CHVs) as used by a collaborative group from the University of Nairobi, University of Washington and the Nairobi Metropolitan Mental Health Team during the COVID-19 lockdown in Kenya. This qualitative study describes the experiences of 17 CHVs enrolled in a training study, required to utilize different digital platforms (Google Meet or Jitsi) as a training forum for the first time. Verbatim extracts of the participants’ daily experiences are extracted from a series of write-ups in the group WhatsApp just before the training. Daily failures and success experiences in joining a Google meet or Jitsi are recorded. Then, 17 participants, 10 women and 7 men, aged between 21 and 51 years (mean = 33), owning a smartphone, were enrolled in the study. None had used Jitsi or Google meet before. Different challenges were reported in login to either and a final decision to use Jitsi, which became the training platform. Training CHVs to deliver a psychosocial intervention using smartphones is possible. However, the trainer must establish appropriate and affordable methods when resources are constrained.

Impact statement

Training ensures that an activity is carried out according to the requirements of a training body or group. Some training activities require face-to-face, to enable feedback and observe the bodily expressions of the trainees, which can communicate difficulties or understanding. However, sometimes face-to-face training is impossible due to various reasons, as happened during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. This study describes the use of smartphones to train community health volunteers (CHVs) in an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya to deliver a psychosocial intervention during the pandemic lockdown. The lockdown prevented the intended face-to-face training, and the team devised a creative alternative: the use of the mobile telephone to train the CHVs. Mobile phones are common in Kenya, but smartphones are needed for use of freely available applications (apps) that support training activities, for example Google Meet or Jitsi. After establishing ownership of smartphones, participants were trained on use of the Google Meet app, a new experience for the group. We describe the participants’ experiences, as captured in a WhatsApp group chat, of determining the app considered friendly to use. This process shows that with innovation and patience, training can take place solely with smartphones when face-to-face training is not possible.

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