App/Software

Gershim Asiki of the African Population and Health Research Centre in Kenya will develop a mobile phone application and centralized electronic database to link birth records with immunizations to increase the coverage of BCG and polio vaccines in newborns in Kenya. Births and immunizations are initially recorded on paper and then transferred to separate electronic databases, meaning that many infants fail to receive the standard vaccinations on time.

Chiwoneso Tinago of West Chester University of Pennsylvania in the U.S. will partner with adolescent mothers and local health workers in Zimbabwe to create peer-support groups incorporating cellphone-based technology such as the WhatsApp messenger application to provide coping and parenting skills to improve the mental health of young mothers. Young mothers less than 18 years old in Zimbabwe are often socially isolated due to forced marriages and exclusion from school, and therefore have no help when bringing up their children.

Rebecca Dempster of HIAS in the U.S. will develop an online game- and mentorship-based intervention to improve the mental health of refugee adolescent mothers in Kenya that integrates into their daily lives and helps them develop new skills. Digital games can help treat mental health disorders such as depression particularly in young people because they have a natural appeal and are easy to access from home.