High-Impact Growth

STOP TB has an ambitious objective driving the RTC initiative: ending global tuberculosis epidemic by 2030. In this episode, we talk about the innovative efforts taken by STOP TB's Reimagining TB Care initiative, addressing the intricate challenges of combating tuberculosis through comprehensive 360-degree, people-centered approach. 

Our guest speaker,  Jackie Huh from Stop TB, will share insights on her initiative "Reminagining TB Care" and discuss the importance of putting people at the center of technology innovations. Within this context, we explore the core objectives of RTC, gaining valuable insight into the notable advancements achieved thus far, obstacles faced &  strategies RTC employs to overcome these challenges, all while keeping their focus on what matters most – the people. 

Exploring the world of healthcare driven by technology, our conversation also features Kelly Collins of SureAdhere who has brilliantly recognized the potential of technology while keeping the essence of people-centered care, with SureAdhere’s VDOT. We will explore how Kelly's endeavors seamlessly align with the evolving landscape of global healthcare, particularly in TB. 

Moreover, we'll discuss the possibilities of collaboration among organizers, governments, and providers, all converging with a shared vision.

Co-hosts Jonathan Jackson and Amie Vaccaro are joined by MHP Salud’s CEO, Dr. Maggie Dante and Data and Evaluation Analyst, Rachel Udow. MHP Salud is championing Community Health Workers across the US both within their organization and through training and consulting on how to best integrate CHW programs. Over the last decade, MHP Salud has been on a digital transformation journey - leveraging technology to improve service delivery. The conversation unpacks many of the best practices the organization has developed to leverage digital to deliver impact at scale.

Topics discussed:
How MHP Salud has used one technology platform to deepen and improve impact over time
MHP Salud’s digitization journey, including expanding use cases of CommCare across programs
How the organization has developed the human capacity and processes to support a long term Impact Delivery approach
The role of user-centered design and training in successful technology implementation.
The significance of buy-in from CHWs and creating a culture of validation
The integration of technology, including CommCare and Tableau, to improve efficiency and save costs
Insights on strategic thinking, recruitment challenges, and long-term sustainability in community health programsRelated

Resources:

Learn more about MHP Salud: ⁠https://mhpsalud.co/about⁠

Access MHP Salud resources and social media: https://bit.ly/m/mhpsalud 

CHW Core Consensus Project: https://www.c3project.org/

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Hosts: Jonathan Jackson and Amie Vaccaro⁠

Social impact organizations and governments worldwide are under immense pressure to do more with less. We are confronting an array of complex, constantly-evolving pressures ranging from economic uncertainty, humanitarian crises, inflation, pandemics, and climate change. All of this means we need to deliver more services to more people. And, we often need to do it with flat or decreasing levels of funding. 

Digital solutions have the potential to help us do more with less, to create more value for every dollar invested.  But most digital transformations either fail outright, or fail to create this sustained value.

In today’s episode, Jonathan Jackson and Amie Vaccaro explore a new approach called Impact Delivery designed to address the challenges we are facing in global health in development and the ways technology can and must step up to better deliver on its potential in creating a world where everyone has access to the services they need to thrive. 

Topics discussed:

How technology is failing global health and development

Why a new approach is needed

The three pillars of Impact Delivery: Better Impact, More Impact and Sustained Impact

Tangible examples of what each pillar looks like in practice

What this approach means for social impact organizations and governments

Dr. Dixon Chibanda started Friendship Bench after losing a patient to suicide who could not afford to travel to the hospital in Zimbabwe where he worked. There had to be a way to make mental health care more accessible. Today, Friendship Bench has a team of grandmothers across Zimbabwe who are trained to deliver evidence-based high-impact therapy on park benches, making mental health support readily available. In this episode, Jonathan Jackson learns about the incredible journey of  the Friendship Bench intervention in conversation with its Founder and CEO, Dr. Dixon Chibanda. Get a behind the scenes look at how this incredible program and intervention has achieved resonance and scale by offering community-based psychological interventions to people in need. You’ll learn how Friendship Bench has trained grandmothers to deliver high-impact therapy, discover the tremendous healing power of storytelling and vulnerability, explore the role CommCare plays in enabling digital data collection and analysis, and dig into the three-part formula for creating a scaled intervention that applies beyond mental health. This episode is a great listen for anyone wanting to learn about the foundational role of digitization in enabling programs to scale and inform data-driven decision-making. 

Topics include: 

How the Friendship Bench intervention started 

Leading randomized controlled trials (RCT) to provide evidence for the effectiveness of the Friendship Bench intervention

Scaling up the Friendship Bench to reach 100,000 people last year

Engaging government stakeholders and building referral pathways for long-term sustainability

Focusing on improving overall health outcomes, not just mental health

The power of effective storytelling and vulnerability

The role digitization plays in scaling and sustaining the program

Partnering with Dimagi and using CommCare to become fully digital

The importance of addressing mental health at the community level

Related Resources:

Friendship Bench: https://www.friendshipbenchzimbabwe.org

TedTalk - Why I train grandmothers to treat depression | Dixon Chibanda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cprp_EjVtwA 

Disclaimer: The audio quality in certain parts of this episode has been compromised, but we trust you are still able to share in this rich conversation. We apologise for any inconvenience.

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Hosts: ⁠Jonathan Jackson⁠ and ⁠Amie Vaccaro

Discover the key ingredients to Ethiopia's incredible progress in digital health as Ali Flaming and Amie Vaccaro speak with Dr. Girma Tadesse, electronic Community Health Information System (eCHIS)  Project Manager with JSI. Stemming from a clear vision for improving health outcomes and data use, the Ethiopian government has been on a digital health transformation journey starting in 1991. As Project Manager for this effort, Dr. Girma shares Ethiopia’s journey moving towards a fully paperless system. You’ll hear how with government ownership and strategic resource allocation, they're establishing a strong foundation for long-term success, while also investing in the people and skills needed to create meaningful change. This is a must-listen for anyone working in and with governments and Ministries of Health wanting to learn how to leverage technology to support higher quality services. Ethiopia has been leading the charge of enabling healthcare workers by building scalable platforms and ecosystems for sustained impact and this conversation provides an inside look at how. 

Topics include: 

The impact of a clear government vision focused on improving health outcomes and service delivery 

Exploring a data-driven approach to inform improvements and achieve universal health coverage

The importance of government ownership and buy-in 

The need for clear communication of goals and resource allocation

Investment in talent and expertise through university programs

Moving beyond digitizing paper processes to creating real impact in healthcare delivery

Utilizing digital platforms for multiple use cases and digitizing various health services

Building scalable platforms and ecosystems for sustained impact

Embracing an iterative approach to digital health transformation

Related Resources: 

JSI: ⁠https://www.jsi.com  ⁠

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: ⁠https://www.gatesfoundation.org⁠ 

USAID: ⁠https://www.usaid.gov⁠ 

Children’s’ Investment Fund Foundation: ⁠https://ciff.org⁠ 

Superset: ⁠https://superset.apache.org⁠ 

CommCare: ⁠https://www.dimagi.com/commcare/⁠ 

Simprints Technology: ⁠https://www.simprints.com⁠ 

USAID Digital Health Activity - Ethiopia: ⁠https://www.dimagi.com/blog/jsi-government-of-ethiopia-and-usaid-digital-health-activity/ ⁠

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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/

Rediscover the power of community health workers (CHWs) and their critical role in delivering healthcare globally in this captivating conversation with Jonathan Jackson and Dr. Madeleine Ballard, CEO of the Community Health Impact Coalition (CHIC). Despite concrete evidence that CHWs work, millions are not salaried, skilled, supervised and supplied. The WHO recommends remunerating CHWs for their work but 86% of CHWs in Africa are not salaried. And worldwide, CHWs face essential medicine stock-outs 1/3 of the time. CHIC is a coalition of thousands of CHWs and aligned health organizations in 40+ countries who are making professional CHWs (proCHWs) the norm by changing guidelines, funding, and policy. In this episode, Dr. Ballard delivers actionable insights and inspiring ideas for creating sustainable change in global health. You’ll also hear about the countries leading the way, why this matters so much, and what it all means for technologists and funders who want to create a world where everyone has access to the services they need to thrive. The episode confronts listeners with a strong call to action to join the movement for proCHWs and ensure health for all.

Topics included: 

Related Resources:

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Testing out a new format for this podcast - short form responses to questions from you, our audience. Plus video!

In this Your Questions Answered episode, we break down a recent learning that Jonathan Jackson shared on LinkedIn regarding working with governments on digital health programs:

“I used to think the goal with digital health programs as a technology partner was to get too big to fail.  I’ve learned a lot however in the last 20 years. Now I know: the only path to success is to be too valuable to fail.”

We discuss taking an Impact Delivery approach for digital, and answer the following audience questions: 

Can you kindly provide specific instances where you have consistently provided benefits to your users, clients, and communities? Understanding how you have avoided becoming stagnant and maintained the growth of your program would be highly beneficial.

How do you suggest measuring and assessing the value-added for users, clients, and communities?

Related Resources 

Burkina Faso case study by Dimagi: https://www.dimagi.com/case-studies/mhealth-tdh-burkinafaso/

Burkina Faso case study by Exemplars in Global Health (shows savings driven by digital health): https://www.exemplars.health/emerging-topics/epidemic-preparedness-and-response/digital-health-tools/commcare-in-burkina-faso

Ethiopia project overview: https://www.dimagi.com/blog/jsi-government-of-ethiopia-and-usaid-digital-health-activity/Jonathan’s original LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7082470123483066368?updateEntityUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_feedUpdate%3A%28V2%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7082470123483066368%29

Related Podcast episode: Prioritizing Platforms Over Projects with Danny Roberts: https://sites.dimagi.com/high-impact-growth-podcast/prioritizing-platforms-over-projects

Related Podcast episode: A New Era for Development with Raj Kumar of Devex: Shifting from a Project Mindset to an Investment Mindset: https://sites.dimagi.com/high-impact-growth-podcast/kumar-devex

Related Podcast episode: Building Resilience: The Key to Combating Burnout in Frontline Workers with Lilianna Bagnoli: https://sites.dimagi.com/high-impact-growth-podcast/resilience-building

WellMe free trial (resilience building application for Frontline Workers):  https://sites.dimagi.com/wellme-trial

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Hosts: ⁠Jonathan Jackson⁠ and ⁠Amie Vaccaro

Depression alone is projected to be the third leading cause of disease burden in lower and middle income countries by 2030, where 75% of people don't receive any treatment.

In this episode we delve into the escalating global issue of mental health care. Jonathan Jackson speaks with three of Dimagi’s experts: senior health strategy specialist Lauren Magoun, senior project analyst Anaba Sunday Atua, and senior mental health strategy consultant Christie Civetta. Gain insights from the team’s diverse experience and learnings in project analysis and the implementation of mental health initiatives, as well as approaches to combating the barriers to mental health care delivery and the grave lack of funding. You’ll walk away from this episode with a clear understanding of the role of Frontline Workers in providing intervention, the need for human connection in digital solutions, and the positive impact of integrating mental health care into broader health strategies. This episode challenges funders, implementers, and technologists working in the mental health space to consider the intersection between mental and physical health in developing solutions that create lasting impact and achieve holistic health outcomes.

Topics include: 

Related Resources:

Connect with us:

In this episode, we discuss technology's impactful role in making services accessible, specifically in the treatment of Tuberculosis (TB). Listen as Chris Buri, a TB survivor and patient advocate, shares his experience with TB treatment and the importance of patient support and advocacy in TB care. You’ll also hear about his personal journey  of resilience and advocacy, the challenges and opportunities presented by TB treatment, and the potential of technology such as VDOT (Video Directly Observed Therapy) to improve patient outcomes. This is a great listen for those wanting to learn more about the impact of TB on patients and their families, the need for person-centered care, and the important call to action for more research and funding in TB treatment and advocacy.

Topics discussed: 

An introduction to Chris Buri, a TB survivor and patient advocate

Chris's experience with TB treatment, including challenges with medication side effects and treatment adherence

The importance of patient support and advocacy in TB treatment

The role of support groups in providing emotional and practical support to TB patients

The impact of TB on patients and their families, including social stigma and financial burden

The need for patient-centered care in TB treatment, with a focus on patient empowerment and engagement

The potential of technology to improve TB treatment adherence and patient outcomes

The challenges and opportunities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic in TB treatment

The need for more research and funding in TB treatment and advocacy

Chris's call to action for healthcare providers, policymakers, and the public to prioritize TB treatment and support

Related Resources

SureAdhere: https://www.sureadhere.com 

CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention): https://www.cdc.gov 

Colorado Department of Public Health: https://cdphe.colorado.gov 

Denver Health:https://www.phidenverhealth.org 

We are TB: https://www.wearetb.com 

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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/ ⁠⁠⁠

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:

Related Resources:

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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/ ⁠⁠⁠