From the Field – Page 3 – Global Reproductive Health at Duke

CGRH Attends DGHI 2nd Annual Partner’s Meeting in Eldoret, Kenya

August 1, 2024December 10, 2024 by Dr. Megan Huchko and Maren WebsterNo Comments

The Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI) convened its second annual East Africa Partners’ meeting in Eldoret, Kenya on June 26-28. With over 50 attendees from Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Duke, the meeting focused on three content areas, cardiovascular disease, climate change and cancer, with a focus on community-based research and community health throughout the sessions. Several members of the Center for Global Reproductive Health (CGRH) were able to attend, Dr. Megan Huchko, Dr. Miriam Nakalembe, Dr. Frankie Odhiambo and Christina Makarushka. The team’s work on community-based cervical cancer prevention and digital health in Kenya and Uganda was highlighted during a panel on East Africa Cancer Research during the second day. They followed this up with a brainstorming session to identify areas of need and ideas for potential future collaboration on research, training and cancer care capacity across the region. During the final day of the multi-country group visited the Cancer Center at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in...

Reflections from Kenya: Enhancing the mSaada App and Empowering Communities

July 31, 2024April 4, 2025 by Nguyên Thảo Thị NguyễnNo Comments

It’s been a year since I first set foot in Kenya, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to come back. Last year, I dedicated my time to building an integrated version of the mSaada app, and over the past eight months, we've been piloting this app within the community. The pilot phase is now complete, and this summer we have been working to refine and improve the app based on user feedback in preparation for the cluster randomized controlled trial we’re launching later this year. While we made some app-specific changes based on user feedback, it became evident that there was a significant need for further educational materials. Indeed, while technology holds great potential, in low-resource settings, the education that accompanies it is essential for successful implementation. Thus, I had the opportunity to collaborate with the SRT students to take the following initiatives this summer in response to the above feedback: Clarifying HPV Results: Many users needed reassurance that a positive...

Reflections from the Field: SRT student Kelsey’s End of Summer Reflection

July 26, 2024April 3, 2025 by Kelsey GoldweinNo Comments

We were incredibly lucky to be working with the team during some crucial moments of their work. These were moments that had been in the works for months, finally coming to fruition. During our stay, the team was constantly looking to the next visit to the field, always another big day on the horizon. This, of course, meant that their focus had to be set in the short term. With everyone’s attention on these big moments, we found it easy to lose sight of some of the work that, while no less important, was less pressing. It quickly became clear that this was an opportunity for us fill in. Much of our time became focused on preparing for the future. We did some of the groundwork for future phases of studies, building tools that will hopefully be integral to their work, but which will not be used for quite a while. We were able to work on the app that will...

Reflections from the Field: SRT Student, Afraaz’s Reflections in Kisumu

July 5, 2024April 3, 2025 by Afraaz MalickNo Comments

We are rapidly approaching the end of our time here in Kisumu, and I can hardly believe it. It feels like just yesterday that we were meeting the team and getting our bearings. Skylar, Kelsey, and Sahil did a great recap in their posts, and I hope I can share a few memorable moments. We were fortunate enough to have Dr. Megan Huchko and Christina Makarushka stop here in Kisumu before attending a conference in Eldoret. While they were here, we got the opportunity to see this incredible team in action—outside of the office. As you've heard before, the local team impressively manages multiple studies and coordinates with partners across the world. However, what is most impressive to me is how well they work with each other. Last Tuesday was a team-building session led by a facilitator, featuring games such as a sponge race, egg & spoon race, and a variation of ships & sailors. During these games, the competitive and...

Reflections from the Field: SRT student, Skylar’s Reflection in Kisumu

July 2, 2024April 3, 2025 by Skylar WebbNo Comments

We have officially passed our halfway mark here in Kisumu, and time has flown by! Picking right up where Sahil and Kelsey left off in their posts, our work on the Elimisha survey visits has continued to evolve. From our first visit to our current fifth visit at different facilities, we've observed significant changes. Starting with the clinics furthest from town, such as Kinasia and Nyakongo, we've gradually moved closer to Kisumu proper through Bunde and Ahero, and now to the Central and West Kisumu districts. As we've moved closer, we've noticed discernible differences in the facilities and the time it takes for women to complete the surveys. Women at the more distant facilities faced greater challenges with literacy and digital literacy. The conditions of the facilities themselves also differ significantly. This underscores the importance of adapting to the wide range of conditions and contexts that each site presents. It has been a powerful reminder of the necessity of adaptability in...

Reflections from the Field: SRT Student, Kelsey’s Reflection in Kisumu

June 24, 2024April 3, 2025 by Kelsey GoldweinNo Comments

This is my first time in Kenya, and it's wonderful. We've been making the most of our time here, spending our weekends on Safari, taking a boat trip on Lake Victoria, and eating some truly incredible pineapple from Jubilee Market. Outshining all of that though, is the team. We're so fortunate to be working with so many strong and joyous people who are doing such difficult and impactful work. In his post last week, Sahil gave a great overview of the ongoing projects and daily work the team is responsible for. I want to zoom out a bit and provide some context for this work. Cervical cancer claims hundreds of thousands of lives every year, and the vast majority of these deaths are in low- and middle-income countries. With HPV vaccinations and screenings, cervical cancer is entirely preventable. But here in Western Kenya, the health system has no capacity for these services. So not only is the team's work helping to...

Reflections from the Field: SRT Student, Sahil’s Reflection in Kisumu

June 20, 2024April 3, 2025 by Sahil ChoudhriNo Comments

Four weeks into our Duke Global Health SRT program in Kisumu, Kenya, Afraaz, Kelsey, Skylar, and I (Sahil) have been assisting in launching a pilot study for a mobile health app designed to facilitate HPV screening and cervical cancer prevention. While our initial focus was on integrating feedback from community health promoters (CHPs) who use the app, we quickly found ourselves contributing to two other critical projects: U54, focused on HPV vaccination and screening, and Elimisha, aimed at community education and stigma reduction around HPV and cervical cancer. Our first field visit took us to three primary schools, where we met with head teachers and the local chief to discuss an upcoming free vaccination and screening clinic. This involved securing permission for girls to attend the multi-day clinic, even if it meant missing some school. Since then, our primary contribution to U54 has been creating a one-pager to advertise the clinic, set to be distributed starting July 1st. The second field visit,...

Implementing Jali Watoto: Childcare in Lumumba Hospital

June 17, 2024December 10, 2024 by Sydney Chen and Melat Woldetensae1 Comment

What had changed: Compared to our trip in the summer of 2023, Melat and I felt much more comfortable navigating Kisumu, Kenya. Sure, we were working in a different location, with new people, on a completely separate project, but the distinct uncertainty at every turn was nowhere to be found. It was a welcome shift. What had not changed: The core reason for our visit. Mothers attending Lumumba Hospital still struggled with finding childcare while they attended healthcare appointments. This meant mothers arrived late, left early, or missed their appointments entirely. Alternatively, they brought their children to appointments which affected the quality of services when the children cried, held on to their mothers, ran around, or generally distracted both the mother and the healthcare provider. It was our hope that the childcare center we worked on over the year would ease the choice mothers often have to make between caring for themselves or their children. We were also grateful to find another...

Establishing a Child Care Center in a Kenyan Hospital and the Summer Ahead

February 29, 2024December 10, 2024 by Sydney ChenNo Comments

Babies were crying. Mothers were patting them on the back. Names were being called for appointments. “With all this information, what will you do about it?” Florence Mawere, a research technician with the Center for Global Reproductive Health, was taking us on a tour of the Lumumba Sub-County hospital in Kisumu, Kenya and specifically demonstrating her work testing samples for HPV in the lab. She asked us that question at the end of the day, referring to a different project we were working on. At that moment, though, we had a different idea. Isabel, Melat, and I (Sydney) spent two months in Kisumu working on launching the pilot study of a mobile health app that facilitates HPV screening for cervical cancer prevention. Part of our work was to understand how Florence processes samples at her lab, hence our presence at Lumumba. In our conversations with her, she explained the barriers to reproductive health and mentioned how the lack of childcare sometimes...

Reflection From the Field: Dr. Thao Nguyen’s Reflections in Kisumu

August 8, 2023April 4, 2025 by Nguyên Thảo Thị NguyễnNo Comments

In 2021 I had the opportunity to join a start-up that provided support for schools and businesses to safely reopen in the COVID-19 pandemic. We developed an app to support symptom monitoring, created a vaccine navigator program, and collaborated with local organizations to host vaccine clinics in historically marginalized communities. That was the first time I began to dream about what it could mean to center technology within local communities to bridge disparities in healthcare. When Dr. Huchko offered me the opportunity to join her team to develop a new iteration of a mobile app, I couldn’t have been more excited. Our app, mSaada, is an integrated digital platform that provides support for community health volunteer-led cervical cancer prevention services. It seeks to improve completion of the key steps in the cervical cancer screening cascade by providing patient education and screening reminders, specimen tracking, result management, follow-up support, and treatment scheduling as needed. I started developing the barebones of the app in...

‹1 234 5 ›»