This community innovation has been accepted at the 2026 DHIS2 Annual Conference and will be in abstract track/lightning talk.
Improving BHI Care Delivery via DHIS2
The Boma Health Initiative is South Sudan’s flagship community health strategy, yet paper based reporting and limited visibility continue to hinder timely decision making. The BHI Digitalisation Project introduces a DHIS2 Tracker program that enables Boma Health Workers to digitally record household visits, childhood illness management for malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhoea, immunization follow up, and referrals using Android devices with offline first functionality. The evaluation, scheduled for March 2026 after a 12‑month pilot from March 2025 to February 2026, uses a mixed methods design. A cluster randomised controlled trial will assess whether digitalisation improves the proportion of children receiving appropriate treatment for common childhood illnesses. A before and after data quality probe will measure changes in the timeliness and accuracy of reporting. Baseline and endline surveys will capture shifts in knowledge, motivation, and perceived quality of care among Boma Health Workers. Qualitative data from focus group discussions and key informant interviews will explore user experiences, enabling factors, and challenges. A cost benefit analysis will compare the value and efficiency of digital versus paper-based implementation. Preliminary findings for the conference are expected to reflect improvements in reporting completeness, community case management quality, and reliability of community level data. Early observations already indicate increased supervisory use of DHIS2 dashboards for performance monitoring and outreach planning. Emerging qualitative insights suggest that digital reporting may improve motivation by simplifying workflows and reducing paperwork. The offline first DHIS2 Tracker configuration, strong Ministry of Health leadership, and simplified metadata design have been essential for implementation within South Sudan’s low connectivity settings. This project demonstrates the potential of DHIS2 supported community health digitalisation to enhance quality of care, strengthen data systems
Primary Author: Aweno Norman
Keywords:
Boma Health Initiative, DHIS2 Tracker, Community Health, Digitalisation, South Sudan, Data Quality, cRCT
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