A supportive community provides the context for ongoing healthy habits. Conversely, negative community aspects put a person at greater risk of developing many health issues. They can also prolong the recovery process after illness or increase the risk of relapse. In this newsletter, we look closer at some MSF initiatives where community engagement is a central component.

During this year’s MSF Paediatric Days in Nairobi, Kenya, we organised a workshop on ways to improve screening for malnutrition in young infants under six months of age together with the MSF Manson Unit Innovation team and others. This article shares initial outcomes of the workshops and next steps.

Simulation is a method for increasing preparedness and strengthening capacity in a safe environment, with room for trial and error. Launched in late 2018, the Field Simulation Program aims to promote and support the use of simulation across MSF.

The climate emergency is a human health emergency. In this issue, we spotlight two initiatives where MSF has adapted its operations in response to climate change as well as an advocacy campaign by MSF Switzerland to raise awareness about the consequences of the climate emergency on the health of the populations we support.

In Lankien, the Malaria Anticipation Project team has developed and piloted a malaria early warning system which predicts the timing and intensity of malaria peaks. In this article, we provide a glimpse into the burgeoning field of anticipatory action in humanitarian work and look closer at the MAP.

Some of the most revolutionary ideas start small and come from unexpected places. In addition, innovations come in all shapes and sizes - from technical solutions to ideas for changing processes to promote social change. In this edition of the MSF SIU newsletter, we explore the diverse nature of innovations.

This blog outlines the theoretical grounding associated with the DTx intervention co-creation with PLWD and clinicians and shares the knowns and unknowns of this project approach through quotes and insights from the different stakeholders involved.

Children under the age of 15 make up more than 60 per cent of MSF's patients, and many have experienced conflicts, natural disasters or other traumatic events. In this edition, we feature two Play Therapy innovations by MSF: the Play Therapy Toolkit and the colouring book “Juan Pablo’s Journey”.

The Play Therapy Toolkit guides readers through the basics of play therapy implementations and provides concrete inspirational examples for making toys and play activities with limited resources. In this article, Katherine Haciömeroğlu, MSF Play Therapist, provides a first-person account of her work with the toolkit.

In this edition, we discuss the importance of collaboration in innovation initiatives and projects and share insights from the Digital Therapeutics team with the MSF SIU’s project visit in Lebanon. We also feature a PAWsome initiative in Mexico City, where Onnie, a Labrador Retriever, provides mental health support to victims of torture and extreme violence at MSF’s Comprehensive Care Centre.

Are you curious about what we worked on last year? We just launched the MSF Sweden Innovation Unit Round-Up 2022. The document includes a series of case studies and lessons learned derived from these projects.

In this post, we look at what the broad field of digital therapeutics encompasses. Making the case for person-centred digital health approaches, we also provide a snapshot of the MSF digital therapeutics strategy.

In this edition, we share insights into the Zero Separation Workshop in Senegal, which the MSF Sweden Innovation Unit hosted in November 2022. We also feature a series of Digital Health Promotion pilot studies in Bangladesh, Malaysia and Tajikistan carried out by the MSF Manson Unit.

On November 29th and 30th, MSF Sweden Innovation Unit (SIU) organized a two-half-days' workshop focused on designing and exploring innovative solutions on the topic of Zero Separation in Dakar, Senegal. Zero separation helps us to create the best possible conditions for mothers and babies to receive care together, starting from birth. 

Over the last year, our innovation colleagues in the UK-based MSF Manson Unit have carried out a series of Digital Health Promotion pilots in Bangladesh, Malaysia and Tajikistan to evaluate a five-step process for developing context-specific digital campaigns in MSF operations.

World Diabetes Day (November 14) provides us with an opportunity to spotlight the substantial, and growing, global health demand for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes care and a chance to share an insight into the MSF Sweden Innovation Unit’s focus on supporting people living with diabetes in humanitarian settings using digital therapeutics (DTx).

In this edition of the MSF Innovation Newsletter, we spotlight two smartphone applications that help improve access to MSF’s services. We also explore the Battery Recycling Project, wich aims to investigate how MSF can improve the management of batteries at a project level.

Digital health is one of MSF Sweden Innovation Unit’s two thematic focus areas, the other is planetary health. This article provides insights into our patient-centered approach to digital health and spotlights five digitial health interventions deployed across MSF.

There is growing evidence of the various mechanisms by which climate change is affecting mental health. In this edition of the MSF Innovation Newsletter, we look at innovative approaches to providing mental health relief for people affected by extreme climate events.

In Durban, South Africa, following devastating floods in April 2022, MSF’s mental health team has been bringing music to some of the community halls and churches in which those who lost their homes are sheltering. The musical interventions are part of a broader medical and mental health strategy.

In recent years, improved access to the internet and internet-connected devices have accelerated the adoption and use of digital technologies such as social media everywhere. For MSF, this development means a plethora of new opportunities to engage with members of the communities we support – but also some challenges.

To learn more about how we can tackle misinformation and disinformation targeting our operations, patients, and staff, MSF launched the ‘Tackling the information disorder’ project in early 2020, funded by MSF TIC. In the context of the project, the team sought out a new reporting tool for misinformation and common rumours about MSF – MSF Listen.

The MSF Manson Unit launched an information ecosystem mapping initiative in the fall of 2021 in Bangladesh to assess how health information spreads within the community. The project was later expanded to more countries. Insights from this work will be used to design digital health promotion campaigns tailored for each context.

For a global humanitarian organization as large as MSF, finding and fostering innovations from staff on the ground in +70 countries can be challenging. Achieving this requires active knowledge sharing and collaboration across the movement.

Tuberculosis (TB) patients in India continue to face stigma and discrimination on a daily basis. Hamari Awaaz, ‘our voice’ in Hindi, is a photography book that attempts to express the stigma MDR-TB patients suffer. Nine patients photographed daily situations that related to a specific stigmatising feeling.

The second edition of the MSF Innovation Round-Up provides a high-level overview of innovation activities carried out across the MSF Movement in 2021. Beyond spotlighting the work of nine innovation Operational Centers and Units, this edition also provides a glimpse into their goals for 2022 and beyond.

Innovations can be big or small, tangible or abstract, a technical solution or a behaviour change process. This edition of the MSF Innovation Newsletter reviews how MSF works to broaden the innovation landscape.

The MSF Science Portal is a new online platform for sharing the medical evidence MSF gathers as part of our medical humanitarian work aiding people and communities affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from health services.

One area where technological innovations can help reduce MSF's CO2 emissions and simultaneously improve the quality of our services is energy. This edition of the MSF Innovation Newsletter examines the role of energy transition in MSF’s broader planetary health developments.

The Sweden Innovation Unit, MSF Operational Center Paris, and energy referents from across the movement teamed up with Arup in autumn 2020 to develop the Solar Air Conditioning Sizing Tool. The tool provides a high-level feasibility assessment for installing any type of air conditioning (AC) system and aims to promote the uptake of solar ACs at field level and reduce our CO2 emission.