MSakhi Android App

mSakhi: A Mobile Friend (in Hindi)

In India, IntraHealth developed and tested a smartphone-based application, mSakhi, to support community health workers to deliver routine MNCH services, as well as recognize when pregnant women and newborns need referral. The audio/video content is based on national guidelines and best practices, and uses the vernacular to more effectively deliver information. Based on positive pilot results, the government is scaling up mSakhi geographically as well as to other health worker cadres and is expanding content to include family planning and additional child health and nutrition topics.

In collaboration with the Government of Uttar Pradesh, India, the Manthan Project developed mSakhi (where sakhi means “friend” in Hindi), an interactive vernacular audio/video-guided mobile application that provides support to Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) in conducting routine activities across the continuum of maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) care.

Through the BMGF-funded Manthan Project, IntraHealth International has tested a promising multi-media mobile phone based application called mSakhi as a tool to make ASHAs’ jobs easier and more effective by addressing some of the challenges faced by them on the job.

• Provides easily accessible on-the-go content via standard mobile phone • Refreshes knowledge on key health messages in an engaging and interactive manner • Facilitates better counseling • Includes audio messages, text messages, illustrations, and animations.

Results:

--Improved ASHAs’ knowledge and counseling skills in important MNCH areas.

--ASHAs using mSakhi much more likely to identify sick newborns. The built-in decision-support and algorithms in mSakhi appear to help ASHAs reach correct diagnoses and guide families to seek help when needed.