Feasibility and Effects of task sharing and mhealth by VHTS in the prevention and control of hypertension and Diabetes Mellitu
Center for Rapid Evidence Synthesis (ACRES)DRRES-36
This Rapid Response should be cited as
ACRES (2019) Feasibility and Effects of task sharing and mhealth by VHTS in the prevention and control of hypertension and Diabetes Mellitus;A Rapid Response Brief. Kampala: The Center For Rapid Evidence Synthesis
Summary
Background: Village Health Teams (VHTs) have been shown to play an important role in increasing access to healthcare for infectious diseases and maternal and child health care. An innovation seeking to use VHTs to screen, diagnose, prescribe and follow up patients with NCDs via mhealth has been proposed in Mukono district. Findings: It is feasible for VHTs to identify, screen, refer and follow up patients with hypertension or diabetes mellitus. However, the clinical effects are limited — improvements of only -2mmHg in blood pressure and -0.6% HbA1c. Conclusion: Task sharing and use of mhealth has been shown to be feasible, however there is limited clinical effect on the control of high blood pressure and hyperglycemia.