PAPERLESS DEFAULTER TRACKING/PREVENTION AND CHRONIC ILLNESSES

Working in the ministry of health has given me chances to work with clients and share experiences with them. As outreach workers in an organization dealing with Chronic illnesses, sometimes it becomes necessary to generate lists of clients who have not turned up for their clinic appointments. what seems interesting is how the system is changing from use of paper records to digital gargets to identify, track and bring back clients who default.

My greatest passion is to see that local grass root women are empowered with tracking devices since women are swift, and are very willing to find out about the clients who are not adhering to treatment or not keeping clinic appointments.
And empowering the already willing and volunteering women community in kitale with digital gargets for follow up will yield positive results. At the moment, tracking is done by hospital personnel and a few CHWs directly linked to hospitals.

Since health has been decentralized in Kenya to county governments, I propose a paradigm shift to further decentralization to communities where we can use the client system, the family system, the community system and the county system to track and eventually prevent defaulting in chronic illnesses management and care. The women system comes handy in use of the electronic gargets for tracking clients with chronic illnesses. this also brings relevance in the African community where local systems are at the core of health and wellness.

Nowadays, almost everybody has access to phones in the communities, and improved gargets for communication about defaulters of great value to the community for grass root tracking of clients who have defaulted clinic. Issues relating to HIV/AIDS, oncology ,just to name a few with local support networks, can easily be addressed with improving the tracking systems through smart phones, Tablets, I pads, Computers that are potable.

I believe that Kitale community in Kenya will manage health issues particularly chronic illness as this will prevent stigma, death, and inaccessibility to health care.

I call upon anyone who knows any organization that is willing to partner with local women in kitale to reduce defaulters by 90% through digital gargets in the community.