Technology Empowerment of ASHA Workers Using E-Health Initiatives in Rural Rajasthan

Abstract

Introduction: Electronic health (e-health) initiatives grant the tools and knowledge to improve health care, benefiting not only patients but also healthcare professionals and institutions. Objectives: To empower ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) technically in terms of using e-health initiatives and to assess feasibility and usefulness of such initiatives; to enhance digital health literacy and to observe the effect of training and skill development of grass root level healthcare workers engaged in primary care. Method: A prospective observational cohort study, in which ASHA’s were recruited in two selected villages of Rajasthan. They were trained to use a web-based application, developed for use on portable device (tablet) to screen, diagnose and provide health education on non-communicable diseases. In-depth interviews and group discussions were done with ASHAs to know their views about the tablet and application use. Results: There was 19.3%, 29.3% and 40% improvement in ASHAs’ ability to measure haemoglobin, blood sugar and blood pressure respectively and also an improvement of 86.5% in tablet and application operation was observed. This improvement in ability of ASHAs was highly significant for all above four parameters (p-value <0.001). ASHAs agreed that the app was useful and helped them connect to the people and explain things more properly. They reported the beneficiaries understood more clearly through pop- up videos which also proved beneficial in increasing compliance. Conclusion: Training ASHA worker in e-health technology is feasible and can assist in screening and management of non-communicable diseases.