Vx Data Insights

“Now everybody is on your toes, 'Why are you not performing?' But I’m always at peace because I know I’ve done my best. I’ve gone to the outreaches, there are no defaulters.” – Immunization Nurse

“Now everybody is on your toes, 'Why are you not performing?' But I’m always at peace because I know I’ve done my best. I’ve gone to the outreaches, there are no defaulters.” – Immunization Nurse

“When it comes to employing health workers, we are very quick to determine that we need nurses and doctors. We forget the data people.” – County EPI Manager

“Making a work plan is one thing, getting the money is another. This annual year, we are supposed to get 100 vaccine carriers. We are already through half of the year, nothing has come.” – Sub Country EPI Mgr

“I think generally the mere fact that at the end of the day I will leave a smile on somebody’s face, I think that’s my motivation. You’ll find somebody distressed, at the end of the day you leave them better than they came.” – Immunization Nurse

“When the system is slow, you cannot fail to issue vaccine to a Sub County, so you record on paper. At times you issue on paper and forget to update the system.” – Regional Depot Mgr

“You have someone crying that they don’t have vaccines in their Depot. When you open the system, it tells you that they have 1000s of vaccines. That’s when someone will say 'NO! NO! NO. That has not been updated, my so and so is on leave.” – National

“Decisions are made at the top. We don’t make them here. We’re just given protocols to follow.” – Immunization Nurse

We are taking a Human-Centered Design approach to understand challenges healthcare workers & managers face with using data for decision-making in immunization programs in Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mozambique.

“Making a work plan is one thing, getting the money is another. This annual year, we are supposed to get 100 vaccine carriers. We are already through half of the year, nothing has come.” – Sub Country EPI Mgr

Initial Insights

Kenya Report

May 2020 v 4

This report contains a summary of our initial insights from the fieldwork conducted in Kenya in early 2020.

Mozambique Report

Jan 2021 v 3

This report contains a summary of our initial insights from the fieldwork conducted in Mozambique in late 2020.

“You have someone crying that they don’t have vaccines in their Depot. When you open the system, it tells you that they have 1000s of vaccines. That’s when someone will say 'NO! NO! NO. That has not been updated, my so and so is on leave.” – National

From the Blog

Re-framing how we think about decision-making: 3 lessons from healthcare workers and managers in Kenya

Power dynamics and training models which emphasize protocols over autonomy make many healthcare workers reluctant to label themselves as decision makers. Important decisions are also likely to be made collectively, not individually, with key information passed in meetings and through informal one-on-one conversations.

How WhatsApp is transforming communications within the Kenyan healthcare system

Kenyan healthcare workers and managers routinely use WhatsApp as a trusted channel to communicate, share information, provide feedback, even build skills and motivate more efficiently.

Policy vs Practice: Two modes that reflect decision-making in the Kenyan health system

Policy refers to the formal, data-driven planning processes which use data but rarely reflect the reality on the ground. Practice are quick judgement calls grounded in local context, but rarely based on available data. The two modes often exist in tandem, frequently leading to duplicative efforts.