Kenya Red Cross Volunteers use Hand-held Computers to Conduct Health Survey During Kenya Measles Campaign

In a part of Kenya where computers and the Internet are beyond the imagination, the sight of a Kenyan Red Cross Society volunteer with a personal data assistant (PDA) interviewing native women cradling their children following a Measles vaccination is a bit out of place.

But by tapping away at his PDA, Peter Matolo was helping ensure the success of the June 17-23 Measles vaccination campaign.

In partnership with SATELLIFE and Acumen Foundation, a health and community survey was conducted by 28 Kenyan Red Cross volunteers at vaccination posts in four Kenyan districts, surveying 2,033 mothers and fathers who brought their children to be vaccinated. SATELLIFE is a non-profit organization that provides community, medical content, communications and training for health care workers in Africa. The survey results will be used to assess the Kenya campaign and help plan future measles initiatives across Africa.

KRCS volunteers manned posts throughout the country, surveying the mothers and fathers who brought their children in to be vaccinated.

The survey asks 57 wide-ranging questions; everything from “How many of your children have died from Measles?” to “What type of roof does your home have?”

With curious residents peeking at the machine in Peter’s hand, he registered the response from a series of answers, such as “Thach, Wood, Corrugated Tin, Other” to the roof question. The answers were recorded on a chip that Peter removed and handed in each night at the headquarters of the Machakos branch to be downloaded.

“It is a wonderful item,” Peter said, adding that he had never seen a PDA before himself. “It takes just 2-3 minutes and they are on their way. It is much easier than using a (paper) survey. One mother shyly asked Peter how the PDA worked and he gave a brief lecture. “They are interested in it, but only for a moment,” he said. “I just tell them it is a survey-taking machine and they are satisfied.”

Peter said he enjoyed using the machine himself, and was intrigued when told what else they could do and that they were very popular in the United States. But he didn’t anticipate an influx of PDAs into rural Kenya.

“I am glad, however, that they are helping us learn more about the children and families we are helping – that is a very good thing,” he said.

Overall key findings include:

• 47 percent of caretakers surveyed said that they had a child who had measles at one time
• 18.5 percent of caretakers surveyed said they had a child who had died of measles
• 54 percent of caretakers surveyed said they had known a child who had died of measles
• In areas where Red Cross was active in social mobilization (talking with caretakers, going house-to-house to encourage vaccinations), over half of the caretakers said they first heard about the vaccination campaign through a Red Cross volunteer