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mMentoring in Ghana: Innovative use of technology improves midwifery care

Posted October 28, 2014
Group of master mentors who made structured voice calls to the tutors.
Group of master mentors who made structured voice calls to the tutors. (Courtesy of Jhpiego)

At USAID’s flagship Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP), led by Jhpiego, we believe that mHealth is a key mechanism for transforming health outcomes throughout the developing world. We support the development and use of sustainable, integrated tools that can contribute to the successful implementation of high-impact maternal, newborn and child health interventions, and also contribute to health systems strengthening. We are particularly interested in tools that support the work of skilled birth attendants and that are interoperable with other health information systems.

In Ghana, high-quality nursing and midwifery education and service delivery are critical to the country’s development goals. Because traditional training and supervision can be expensive, innovative use of available resources is required to scale up and maintain a skilled, competent workforce. Jhpiego works to overcome the obstacles of cost, distance and time associated with traditional face-to-face training by supporting “mobile mentoring” to midwifery tutors and preceptors at midwifery schools. Mobile mentoring, or “mMentoring,” is the use of voice calls and text messages (SMS) to ensure post-training follow-up.

To read the full piece on use of mobile mentoring to supplement on-site supervision, visit the mPowering Frontline Health Workers blog.

Maternal and Child Survival Program