STREAMS: Strengthening the Relationship Between Primary Care Nurses and Community Health Workers Using Technology-Enabled Home Visits for Preventative Screening and Monitoring of Pregnant Women Living in the Rural Eastern Region of Burkina Faso

All mothers want healthy babies, even in Burkina Faso, one of the world’s poorest countries. Despite free prenatal care, access remains an issue for rural women, as this often means walking for an entire day through harsh conditions. As a consequence, nearly 70% receive only 1 of the 4 recommended visits, putting themselves and their babies at risk. What if we could give them convenient access to a nurse without the need for travel? Currently community health workers (CHWs), who are used to bridge the existing service, often work in isolation and without ready access to nurses’ expertise. Project STREAMS uses technology to digitize the communication process between nurses and CHWs, making interactions faster and easier. This technology gives nurses access to health information entered by the CHWs in real-time, facilitating timely intervention and mentorship when required. It also enables video conferencing between nurses in the clinic with CHWs and pregnant mothers in the villages. The juxtaposition of telecommunications technology, public-private partnership and process innovation will create an empowering environment for rural women and serve as a model that can be expanded beyond pregnancy and to isolated communities globally. This important initiative has the confirmed backing and political support from local, regional and ministerial health authorities, the buy-in from industry and access to PMA2020 data management software, which are essential for future scaling-up.