Performance factors of mobile rich media job aids for community health workers

Objective: To study and analyze the possible benefits on performance of community health workers using point-of-care clinical guidelines implemented as interactive rich media job aids on small-format mobile platforms. Design: A crossover study with one intervention (rich media job aids) and one control (traditional job aids), two periods, with 50 community health workers, each subject solving a total 15 standardized cases per period per period (30 cases in total per subject). Measurements: Error rate per case and task, protocol compliance. Results: A total of 1394 cases were evaluated. Intervention reduces errors by an average of 33.15% (p=0.001) and increases protocol compliance 30.18% (p<0.001). Limitations: Medical cases were presented on human patient simulators in a laboratory setting, not on real patients. Conclusion: These results indicate encouraging prospects for mHealth technologies in general, and the use of rich media clinical guidelines on cell phones in particular, for the improvement of community health worker performance in developing countries.