High-Impact Growth

By Dimagi

A podcast for social entrepreneurs, global development funders, nonprofit leaders and anyone grappling with the challenge of how to build solutions that are both immensely impactful and also achieve h... more

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FAQs about High-Impact Growth:

How many episodes does High-Impact Growth have?

The podcast currently has 72 episodes available.

High-Impact Growth episodes:

June 19, 2023Taking New Technology from Research to Commercial Scale: The SureAdhere Story with Dr. Richard Garfein and Dr. Kelly Collins
In this episode we chat to renowned epidemiologist, healthcare innovator, and educator Dr. Richard Garfein and social entrepreneur and infectious disease epidemiologist Dr. Kelly Collins, as they share their journey of turning an idea from research in academia into a successful commercial enterprise. They discuss their experiences in starting SureAdhere, licensing the software from UCSD, and signing up health departments to use the technology. You’ll also hear about their work in using Video Directly Observed therapy (VDOT) to transform tuberculosis (TB) treatment, and how they expanded their company's reach to cover diseases from hepatitis C to opioid use disorder. The episode highlights the importance of following evidence-based decision-making and empowering patients and healthcare workers alike by leveraging technology, innovation, and passion.

Topics include:
The development of Video Directly Observed Therapy (VDOT) technology

The role of DOT and VDOT in healthcare interventions

Telemedicine during COVID-19 and beyond

Digital technology to support medication assisted treatment and opioid use disorder-The importance of evidence-based decision-making in developing and testing technology

The decision to start a company to scale VDOT technology and make it more widely available

The challenges of licensing the software from UCSD and signing up health departments to use the technology

The impact of VDOT on improving patient experiences and healthcare provider efficiency.

Lessons learned from the experience of starting and growing SureAdhere

The decision to join forces with Dimagi
Related Resources:
SureAdhere: https://www.sureadhere.com /

The Stop TB Partnership: https://www.stoptb.org

The UK National Health Service: https://www.nhs.uk

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov

Verizon Foundation: https://www.verizon.com/about/responsibility/grant-requirements

Sign up to our newsletter, and stay informed of Dimagi’s work :⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sites.dimagi.com/newsletter-sign-up⁠⁠⁠⁠
We are on social media - follow us for the latest from Dimagi:
LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/dimagi⁠⁠⁠⁠
Twitter:⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/dimagi/⁠⁠⁠⁠
Facebook:⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/dimagi.inc/⁠⁠⁠⁠
Youtube:⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt8JcRhWywkVJRR_YWv4OhA⁠⁠⁠⁠

If you enjoy this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review and share your favorite episodes with friends.
Hosts: Jonathan Jackson: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanljackson/⁠⁠⁠⁠
Amie Vaccaro: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/amievaccaro/ ⁠⁠⁠
...more
46min
June 12, 2023Reimagining global mental health care with a person-centered, digitally-enabled approach with Dr. Vikram Patel, successor to Paul Farmer at Harvard Medical School
“There is no health without mental health.” - Dr. Vikram Patel
Dr. Vikram Patel is a psychiatrist, professor, renowned researcher, co-founder of Sangath, in India, and the incoming chair of Harvard Medical School Department of Global Health and Social Medicine where he takes over for the late Dr. Paul Farmer. Through decades of field-defining research, Dr Patel has shown how community-based resources can meet a growing burden of mental illness globally. In this episode, we explore Dr. Patel’s journey from training as a psychiatrist in London to working in Zimbabwe and co-founding Sangath - an award-winning Indian NGO, committed to improving mental health care across the globe. This episode is a must-listen for those wanting to learn about strategies for scaling mental health care that extend beyond the traditional healthcare system and understanding how technology can help to improve the quality of psychological and social interventions.

Topics include:
The importance of supporting Community Health Workers and Frontline Workers to treat mental illness and address the crisis of human resources in healthcare and mental health

The integral difference between mental health and mental illness

The critical need for integration of mental health support into universal health coverage

The connection and influence of mental health on other chronic diseases

The role of the ‘accompaniment model’ in mental health care

Understanding how non-specialist providers can deliver the ‘active ingredient’ in mental health intervention for two thirds of mental illness

The failings, future and possible fixes for the Diagnostic and Statistics Manual (DSM) in psychiatry

Introducing a stepped care approach in addressing individual’s mental health needs

The importance of human connection in mental health treatment

The need to shift from a diagnostic model to a person-centered approach

Exploring measurement based peer supervision in mental health treatment programs

The top 3 ways to leverage digital to augment humans in mental health care, not replace them
Related resources:
Grand Challenges Canada funded project to scale up peer supervision for delivery of psychological treatments - Collaboration between GMH@Harvard's Project EMPOWER, Dimagi, Sangath and the University of Toronto https://globalhealth.harvard.edu/empower-gcc-project-pilot/

How Digital Solutions Can Help Scale Mental Health Care https://www.dimagi.com/blog/digital-solutions-scale-mental-health-care/

Dr. Vikram Patel profile and research: https://ghsm.hms.harvard.edu/faculty-staff/vikram-patel

Learn about Dr. Patel’s new role as Chair of of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School: https://hms.harvard.edu/news/patel-named-new-chair-global-health-social-medicine
Connect with us:
Sign up to our newsletter, and stay informed of Dimagi’s work :⁠⁠⁠https://sites.dimagi.com/newsletter-sign-up⁠⁠⁠

We are on social media - follow us for the latest from Dimagi: LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/dimagi⁠⁠⁠ Twitter:⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/dimagi/⁠⁠⁠ Facebook:⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/dimagi.inc/⁠⁠⁠ Youtube:⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt8JcRhWywkVJRR_YWv4OhA⁠⁠⁠

If you enjoy this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review and share your favorite episodes with friends.

Hosts: Jonathan Jackson: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanljackson/⁠⁠⁠

Amie Vaccaro: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/amievaccaro/ ⁠⁠
...more
49min
June 05, 2023How Community Health Workers Shaped the Creation of CommCare, the Platform for Impactful Frontline Work with Gayo Mhila
Dimagi’s CommCare platform has been shaped by its users since its inception. Today, we revisit some of the first Community Health Workers who helped design and test CommCare back in 2008 in Tanzania. Co-host Amie Vaccaro speaks with two people who led that early research – Gayo Mhila, who has recently interviewed 5 of the earliest users, and Dr. Brian DeRenzi, Dimagi's Global Director of Research. Through the conversation you’ll learn how technology can enable CHW’s to provide vital support to their communities, and how CHW input helped shape essential functionality of CommCare marking the genesis of Dimagi’s Design Under the Mango Tree approach.

Topics include:
Insights from 5 of the earliest users of CommCare - how they got into community health work and their experience with CommCare

How CHW feedback led to the creation of logins, referrals, supervisor applications, case management and more foundational functionality in CommCare

How switching from paper to digital helped tackle stigma, earn trust and improve efficiency for CHWs

How technology can support and bolster relationships (not replace them)

The journey to creating value for users at different levels of a health system with digital

How digitizing community health work can support expanded digital literacy for women and why it matters

Training techniques for technology adoption

The importance of user-driven design or as Dimagi’s calls it “Design Under the Mango Tree”
Related Resources:
CommCare: https://www.dimagi.com/commcare/

Design Under the Mango Tree: https://www.dimagi.com/blog/20-years-of-designing-under-the-mango-tree/

High-Impact Growth podcast Ep 10: Solving Hard Problems, Designing Under the Mango Tree, and Taking a Product Approach: Lessons Learned from the Making of CommCare featuring Dr. Brian DeRenzi, Clayton Sims, Cory Zue and Dr. Neal Lesh: https://sites.dimagi.com/high-impact-growth-podcast/making-commcare
...more
39min
May 29, 2023Championing a Movement to Pay and Professionalize Community Health Workers with Margaret Odera
In this episode we explore the journey of Margaret Odera, a Community Health Worker and mentor mother in Kenya. Following her HIV diagnosis, Margaret received life-changing support from a mentor mother, which inspired her to dedicate her life to helping other HIV-positive mothers and their newborns. As the founder of the Community Health Workers Champions Network (CHWCN), Margaret is also leading the charge to professionalize and amplify the voices of these unsung heroes in the health sector. We discuss the role of Community Health Workers in disease prevention and health promotion; the need for better tools, technology, and training, and the steps Margaret is taking toward professionalizing Community Health Worker roles to ensure fair compensation, improved working conditions, and preparedness for future pandemics.

Topics discussed:
What a typical week looks like for Margaret

The realities of community health workers - their working conditions and the lack of compensation

The unfortunate status of payment for Community Health Workers in Kenya

How lack of payment for Community Health Workers reflects a gender issue

How Margaret came to found the Community Health Workers Champions Network (CHWCN) and early wins

Challenges faced in professionalizing Community Health Workers

The role of technology in professionalizing community health workers

The need for better Community Health Worker representation and visibility at various levels of health governance

The role of Community Health Workers in preventing future pandemics

The support needed from health systems at large to train, support, and equip Community Health Workers
Related Resources:
Margaret Odera, Heroine of Health: https://www.intrahealth.org/vital/community-health-worker-advocate-and-now-heroine-health
Women in Global Health profile of Margaret Odera: https://womeningh.org/our_members/margaret-odera/Video by IntraHealth of Margaret Odera: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nZAEwz2BUU
Contribute to support the CHW Champions Network: https://www.mchanga.africa/fundraiser/70491
Community Health Impact Coalition: https://joinchic.org/

Sign up to our newsletter, and stay informed of Dimagi’s work :https://sites.dimagi.com/newsletter-sign-up
We are on social media - follow us for the latest from Dimagi:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dimagi
Twitter:https://twitter.com/dimagi/
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/dimagi.inc/
Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt8JcRhWywkVJRR_YWv4OhA

Please subscribe and follow this podcast so you never miss an episode. If you enjoy this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review and share your favorite episodes with friends.
Hosts: Jonathan Jackson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanljackson/
Amie Vaccaro: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amievaccaro/
...more
47min
May 22, 2023Building Resilience: The Key to Combating Burnout in Frontline Workers with Lilianna Bagnoli
In a world where stress is inevitable, burnout is rife, and the global mental health burden is growing, it's crucial to develop the skill of resilience to recover, adapt, and grow from stress. This episode highlights how building resilience can guard against burnout, a workplace phenomenon that affects many Frontline Workers, resulting in feelings of fatigue, detachment, and a reduction in professional efficacy. Jonathan Jackson sits down with Lilianna Bagnoli to dig into Dimagi’s work on resilience-building through the launch of the WellMe application - a user-friendly tool focussed on equipping Frontline Workers with resilience-building behaviors, that can be used across geographies, languages, and Frontline Worker cadres. You’ll also hear about the ways in which we can scale access to mental health support for individuals and Frontline Workers, how technology can support this, and what this means for technologists, implementers, and funders working in global health.

Other topics discussed:
Why resilience-building is important amongst Frontline Workers

The growing mental health crisis & four interventions that can help deliver mental health support at scale

Leaning into collaborative approaches to deal with stress on all levels amongst essential and non-essential staff

An introduction to Dimagi’s WellMe application & the feedback received from the user testing phase

The importance of adapting messages and language from user testing to appeal to specific contexts and demographics

The need for organizations to incorporate resilience-building into professional development efforts

The effects of bolstering mental health on the results of treatments for other health issues
Related Resources:
The Lancet Commission on global mental health and sustainable development: https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(18)31612-X.pdf

WellMe: https://sites.dimagi.com/wellme-trial

Grand Challenges Canada funded project to scale up peer supervision for delivery of psychological treatments: https://globalhealth.harvard.edu/empower-gcc-project-pilot

Promoting effective mental healthcare through peer supervision: https://sangath.in/peers/

How Digital Solutions Can Help Scale Mental Health Care: https://www.dimagi.com/blog/digital-solutions-scale-mental-health-care/

WellMe: https://www.dimagi.com/blog/introducing-wellme-the-resilience-app-for-frontline-workers/

What We Learned from our Working Group on Health Worker Wellbeing: https://www.dimagi.com/blog/what-we-learned-from-our-working-group-on-health-worker-wellbeing/

Equipping Health Workers to Recover, Adapt and Grow https://chwi.jnj.com/resilience

A Toolkit to Protect Against Burnout on the Front Lines: https://chwi.jnj.com/about/global-interventions/the-resilience-collaborative/resources

Resilience Message Program: Evidence-based, free, and adaptable messages to increase health worker resilience: https://chwi.jnj.com/about/global-interventions/the-resilience-collaborative/resources

When there is no word for resilience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdcT6gSh-xY

Making Resilience Resonate: https://sites.dimagi.com/guidebook-resilience-message-program

Leveraging Advanced Analytics to Develop Engagement Profiles of a Digital Resilience Message Programme and Inform Scale Efforts: https://www.dimagi.com/blog/johnson-johnson-foundation-leveraging-advanced-analytics-to-develop-engagement-profiles/

CommCare Companion Application:https://www.dimagi.com/blog/johnson-and-johnson-foundation-commcare-companion-application/

Digital health solutions need to consider the health worker: https://www.devex.com/news/sponsored/opinion-digital-health-solutions-need-to-consider-the-health-worker-102333
...more
43min
May 15, 2023Equity and AI in Global Health: Exploring Large Language Models, Building Chatbots and Embracing Discomfort
Jonathan Jackson sits down with Brian DeRenzi, Dimagi’s Research and Data team lead, to discuss Dimagi’s work exploring large language models to create chatbots for global health and development use cases. They discuss how we might leverage AI to advance equity despite the reality that it can also decrease equity, while recognizing the irreplaceable value of human-to-human connection in healthcare. We also discuss the potential of ChatGPT to support more accessible SMS workflows, how voice to text can support non-literate populations, and how to embrace the discomfort of this moment in a way that propels us towards creating positive impact.
Topics include:
Exploring large language models and GPT-4 for Chatbots in Global Health and Development

Building tools to support and elevate equity in AI

AI's Impact on Productivity

Potential Hype and Pitfalls of AI

Measuring utility, accuracy, safety, and purpose adherence in chatbots

The importance and opportunity in using LLMs with SMS and Voice-to-Text for non-literate populations

Leveraging AI in a way that elevates and supports human effort instead of replacing it

Related Resources:

GatesNotes, The Age of AI has begun: https://www.gatesnotes.com/The-Age-of-AI-Has-Begun

Palantir, Bending Artificial Intelligence to our collective will: https://www.palantir.com/newsroom/letters/our-new-platform/

Comparing Physician and Artificial Intelligence Chatbot Responses to Patient Questions Posted to a Public Social Media Forum:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2804309
Sign up to our newsletter, and stay informed of Dimagi’s work :⁠⁠https://sites.dimagi.com/newsletter-sign-up⁠⁠
We are on social media - follow us for the latest from Dimagi:
LinkedIn: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/dimagi⁠⁠
Twitter:⁠⁠https://twitter.com/dimagi/⁠⁠
Facebook:⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/dimagi.inc/⁠⁠
Youtube:⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt8JcRhWywkVJRR_YWv4OhA⁠⁠

If you enjoy this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review and share your favorite episodes with friends.
Hosts: Jonathan Jackson: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanljackson/⁠⁠
Amie Vaccaro: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/amievaccaro/ ⁠
...more
36min
May 08, 2023A New Era for Development with Raj Kumar of Devex: Shifting from a Project Mindset to an Investment Mindset
Global development is evolving quickly in the face of social, economic, and political changes. Jonathan Jackson sits down with Raj Kumar, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Devex, a leading independent online news platform for development professionals, to discuss how 2023 marks the start of a new, more challenging development era. With growing competition between China and Russia and the West, a new set of economic circumstances, and overwhelming humanitarian needs, development professionals need to get more value for money. And this requires a change in mindset and how things are done - shifting from a project-based mindset to a collaborative, results-driven investment mindset.

Topics discussed:
Why and how we need to shift from a project-based to an investment-based mindset

The role of Devex in changing the development sector

How funding for development is changing and needs to change

The potential of philanthropy in funding development work

How technology deployed thoughtfully in support of the people closest to the challenges is poised to unlock significantly more value

Prioritizing results over projects for better resource allocation

Sign up to our newsletter, and stay informed of Dimagi’s work :⁠https://sites.dimagi.com/newsletter-sign-up⁠

We are on social media - follow us for the latest from Dimagi:
LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/dimagi⁠
Twitter:⁠https://twitter.com/dimagi/⁠
Facebook:⁠https://www.facebook.com/dimagi.inc/⁠
Youtube:⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt8JcRhWywkVJRR_YWv4OhA⁠

If you enjoy this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review and share your favorite episodes with friends.

Hosts: Jonathan Jackson: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanljackson/⁠
Amie Vaccaro: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/amievaccaro/ ⁠

Related resources:
“From the editor-in-chief: 3 ways 2023 may define a new development era” by Raj Kumar on Devex: https://www.devex.com/news/from-the-editor-in-chief-3-ways-2023-may-define-a-new-development-era-104723

“Could this app transform delivery of last-mile health services?” by Catherine Cheney on Devex: https://www.devex.com/news/could-this-app-transform-delivery-of-last-mile-health-services-104113

Devex: https://www.devex.com/

The Business of Changing the World by Raj Kumar: https://pages.devex.com/the-business-of-changing-the-world.html

Devex Book Club podcast: https://pages.devex.com/devex-book-club.html

GatesNote on AI: https://www.gatesnotes.com/The-Age-of-AI-Has-Begun

Co-Develop: https://www.codevelop.fund/

Dimagi’s Big Break: Receiving Instrumental Core Funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with Tim Wood, Former Senior Program Officer https://sites.dimagi.com/high-impact-growth-podcast/gates-foundation-funding
...more
53min
May 01, 2023Undersupported, Unrecognized and Vital: 3 Community Health Workers supported by Lwala Community Alliance Speak Out
Jonathan Jackson and Amie Vaccaro sit down with three Community Health Workers, supported by the Lwala Community Alliance, as they share first-hand their journey into community health, their day-to-day, the impact of digital tools on their work, and the importance of salaried Community Health Workers in creating greater access to critical health services worldwide. This is part 2 in a two-part series on the important work Lwala Community Alliance is doing in transforming the community health landscape in Kenya. A must-listen for anyone interested in understanding the important work of Community Health Workers.
Some topics covered in this conversation include:
The critical role of technology in supporting essential service delivery

A day in the life of 3 Community Health Workers in their communities

Top challenges faced by CHWs - from difficult clients to weather conditions

The importance of paying, training, supervising and supporting CHWs

Policies for a safer and more conducive working environment for CHWs
Related Resources:
Lwala Community Alliance: https://lwala.org/

Community Health Impact Coalition: The Problem: A Dual Human Rights Issue https://joinchic.org/resources/the-problem-a-dual-human-rights-issue/
...more
32min
April 25, 2023The Four Pillars of Community-Led Health: Insights from Julius Mbeya, Co-CEO at Lwala Community Alliance
Jonathan Jackson sits down with Julius Mbeya, Co-CEO of the Lwala Community Alliance, to discuss their approach to addressing health challenges in Kenya. By using a community-led health model, they are able to provide quality, affordable healthcare to underprivileged communities, and reduce maternal and under-five deaths. This is part one in a two-part series on the important work Lwala Community Alliance is doing in transforming the community health landscape in Kenya. A must-listen for anyone interested in innovative digital approaches to healthcare to effect lasting impact.
Some topics covered in this conversation include:
A breakdown of Lwala’s community-led health model

The path to providing affordable healthcare to communities in informal settlements

How and why Lwala is digitizing its Community Health Workers

Reducing maternal and under-five deaths

The importance of data collection and longitudinal tracking understand impact over time an to create an evidence base

Working with the government to bring interventions to scale
Related Resources:
Lwala Community Alliance: https://lwala.org/

Community Health Impact Coalition: The Problem: A Dual Human Rights Issue https://joinchic.org/resources/the-problem-a-dual-human-rights-issue/
...more
26min
April 17, 2023Reducing health inequities through digital innovation with Olukunle Akinwusi of FIND & Erica Troncoso of Jhpiego: Dispatches from the Global Digital Health Forum 2022
Jonathan Jackson sits down with Olukunle Akinwusi, Technical Officer for Digital Access at FIND & Erica Troncosco, Technical Advisor and Portfolio Lead for Frontier Technology Solutions at Jhpeigo, at the Global Digital Health Forum, to discuss the value of innovation in improving health equity through thoughtful diagnostics, involving the user in the design process, investing in the digital literacy of the Frontline Worker, and engaging country stakeholders to ensure buy-in.

Some topics covered in this conversation include:
The importance of diagnostics in improving access to care and curbing disease prevalence

Addressing the biggest diagnostic gaps at various levels of care

The experiences and lessons learned from working on digital health projects

Balancing the use of technology with ensuring that those new technologies are actually helping Frontline Workers provide better care

The value of innovation and involving the user in the design process

The need for investment in health worker digital literacy and the accessibility of infrastructure in more remote settings for digital health interventions

The importance of engaging the countries or stakeholders in which the solution or innovation will be designed, understanding the context of use, and getting user buy-in
Related Resources:
FIND: https://www.finddx.org

Jhpiego: https://www.jhpiego.org

Principles for Digital Development: https://digitalprinciples.org

Design Under the Mango Tree - Dimagi’s approach to designing with users: https://www.dimagi.com/blog/20-years-of-designing-under-the-mango-tree/

Solving Hard Problems, Designing Under the Mango Tree, and Taking a Product Approach: Lessons Learned from the Making of CommCare featuring Dr. Brian DeRenzi, Clayton Sims, Cory Zue and Dr. Neal Lesh: https://sites.dimagi.com/high-impact-growth-podcast/making-commcare

Dimagi’s 5 Year Strategy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13O7SKwrQiMXM04zmB3jLxOEkCC0TF3UiJ7qwJm4mF_g/edit

Dimagi’s High-Impact Growth Framework: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v_ial9hXI7Hy0c_T4A1uX-VOgx4DNeKNC_o_PZy4F2k/edit
...more
16min

FAQs about High-Impact Growth:

How many episodes does High-Impact Growth have?

The podcast currently has 72 episodes available.