Protocol for an intervention development and pilot implementation evaluation study of an e-health solution to improve newborn care quality and survival in two low-resource settings, Malawi and Zimbabwe: Neotree

Emma Wilson, Hannah Gannon, Gwendoline Chimhini, Felicity Fitzgerald, Nushrat Khan, Fabiana Lorencatto, Erin Kesler, Deliwe Nkhoma, Tarisai Chiyaka, Hassan Haghparast-Bidgoli, Monica Lakhanpaul, Mario Cortina Borja, Alexander G Stevenson, Caroline Crehan, Yali Sassoon, Tim Hull-Bailey, Kristina Curtis, Msandeni Chiume, Simbarashe Chimhuya, Michelle Heys, Emma Wilson, Hannah Gannon, Gwendoline Chimhini, Felicity Fitzgerald, Nushrat Khan, Fabiana Lorencatto, Erin Kesler, Deliwe Nkhoma, Tarisai Chiyaka, Hassan Haghparast-Bidgoli, Monica Lakhanpaul, Mario Cortina Borja, Alexander G Stevenson, Caroline Crehan, Yali Sassoon, Tim Hull-Bailey, Kristina Curtis, Msandeni Chiume, Simbarashe Chimhuya, Michelle Heys

Abstract

Introduction: Every year 2.4 million deaths occur worldwide in babies younger than 28 days. Approximately 70% of these deaths occur in low-resource settings because of failure to implement evidence-based interventions. Digital health technologies may offer an implementation solution. Since 2014, we have worked in Bangladesh, Malawi, Zimbabwe and the UK to develop and pilot Neotree: an android app with accompanying data visualisation, linkage and export. Its low-cost hardware and state-of-the-art software are used to improve bedside postnatal care and to provide insights into population health trends, to impact wider policy and practice.

Methods and analysis: This is a mixed methods (1) intervention codevelopment and optimisation and (2) pilot implementation evaluation (including economic evaluation) study. Neotree will be implemented in two hospitals in Zimbabwe, and one in Malawi. Over the 2-year study period clinical and demographic newborn data will be collected via Neotree, in addition to behavioural science informed qualitative and quantitative implementation evaluation and measures of cost, newborn care quality and usability. Neotree clinical decision support algorithms will be optimised according to best available evidence and clinical validation studies.

Ethics and dissemination: This is a Wellcome Trust funded project (215742_Z_19_Z). Research ethics approvals have been obtained: Malawi College of Medicine Research and Ethics Committee (P.01/20/2909; P.02/19/2613); UCL (17123/001, 6681/001, 5019/004); Medical Research Council Zimbabwe (MRCZ/A/2570), BRTI and JREC institutional review boards (AP155/2020; JREC/327/19), Sally Mugabe Hospital Ethics Committee (071119/64; 250418/48). Results will be disseminated via academic publications and public and policy engagement activities. In this study, the care for an estimated 15 000 babies across three sites will be impacted.

Trial registration number: NCT0512707; Pre-results.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00512707.

Keywords: health informatics; neonatology; quality in health care.

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: MH, YS, EK and FF are trustees of the Neotree charity (www.neotree.org) but receive no financial payment from this role. CC was a trustee of the Neotree charity until 2018 and received no financial payment for this role.

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.

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