MSF Innovation Newsletter December 2022
Nuance and context in health communication
Having access to information such as the symptoms of diseases, where to get medical help for specific problems, and what measures you can take to keep yourself and your family healthy can be life-saving.
However, in many communities where MSF works, accessing accurate health information can be challenging. With the increased use and reach of social media and other digital tools, this issue is often compounded by the spread of health misinformation and disinformation.
In this edition, we feature a series of Digital Health Promotion pilot studies in Bangladesh, Malaysia and Tajikistan carried out by the MSF Manson Unit. Following a careful mapping of the local flow and consumption of health information in selected communities, the team developed context-specific digital health promotion campaigns, consisting of activities ranging from a poetry competition on WhatsApp to educational animated videos.
Staying with the same theme, the Resource Highlights section features an update from the Stories of Change initiative and also shares insights into how MSF used participatory filmmaking to co-develop a health programme with the community in Chad
We hope you enjoy the read!
Innovation updates from the MSF movement
WhatsApp poetry and the power of digital health promotion
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.
First, the team carried out Information Ecosystem Mappings in the communities to gain insights into what health themes different groups engage with online, what devices they use, when and where they are online, what content formats (video, GIFs, text, etc.) they prefer, demographic biases, safety concerns, and much more. All this information helped inform the subsequent Digital Health Promotion campaigns.
In Tajikistan, the team set up a WhatsApp Broadcast group for family members of young tuberculosis (TB) patients in Dushanbe and created a five-episode animated short story about a boy, Behruz, who is a superhero who contracts TB and loses his powers. Throughout the series, viewers follow Behruz to different medical appointments and learn about the disease alongside him. Adding an interactive element to the campaign, the team also launched a poetry competition, where people could submit and vote on each other’s poems.
Learn more about this pilot and watch Behruz story here »
Zero Separation Workshop in Senegal in connection with MSF Paediatric Days
Zero Separation helps us to create the best possible conditions for mothers and babies to receive care together, starting from birth. MSF sees this as a person-centred approach to care which will eventually reduce newborn death and promote breastfeeding.
On November 29th and 30th, the 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. Over the course of the two sessions, 16 people from both MSF projects and HQs came together to dive into the topic. Participants brought with them a wealth of experience in medicine, paediatrics, nursing, training, health promotion, and maternal and child health care.
In a recent article on our website, the team shares insights into the event and looks at some of the early workshop results.
Resource highlights
Event: MSF TB Day 2022
On December 5th, MSF India in collaboration with the National Institute of Tuberculosis & Respiratory Diseases (NITRD) organized the second iteration of their annual TB Day.
Innovation was a central theme during this year's event. In case you missed it, we especially recommend the final session of the day, which provided insights into the Catalyzing Paediatric TB Innovations (CAP TB) project.
Read, watch, listen:
How digital health can accelerate access to diabetes education and care
On World Diabetes Day (November 14th) the MSF Sweden Innovation Unit published an article spotlighting the substantial, and growing, global health demand for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes care. The article also shares insights into our focus on supporting people living with diabetes in humanitarian settings using digital therapeutics (DTx). Read more »The Pocket Clinic: Digital support during HIV self-testing in Eswatini
Eswatini has one of the highest burdens of HIV in the world. MSF began providing HIV self-tests in the country in 2016. To provide additional support and help guide people through the self-testing process, MSF launched the “Pocket Clinic” in October this year. The tool includes features supporting online counselling and educational videos. Read more »Co-designing health programmes with the community in Chad
MSF started a pilot project in Sila in eastern Chad at the end of 2021, co-designing a health program with the community that brings care for the most common morbidities closer to their homes. As part of this pilot, MSF brought in an expert on participatory filmmaking who trained community members in how to film. The pilot resulted in one video that only focuses on the community’s perspective and a second one that additionally brings in MSF’s perspective.
Read more and watch a 10-min short documentary about this pilot study »Stories of Change: Can stories help to change lives?
The MSF Story of Change intervention adopts a collaborative approach to collecting and sharing health information in places where MSF works. In the February edition of this newsletter, we featured an innovative peer-to-peer mentoring model that was developed and piloted to scale the Story of Change training. With support from the Sapling Nursery Fund, the training has since been scaled up to nine new MSF projects across Pakistan, India, Sudan, and Nigeria. Read more and watch a 2.5-minute video about the approach »
In our headphones
Conversations on Eco-Grief
Conversations on Eco-Grief with Dr Reza Eshaghian
MSF Canada is exploring the topic of eco-grief in a new podcast series, produced in collaboration with Eco Anxious Stories Canada. In the first episode, host Rachel Malena-Chan speaks with MSF's Dr Reza Eshaghian who shares his experience with eco-grief as he witnessed the impact of climate change on affected communities in his work in South Sudan. Listen here »
Inside Geneva
COP27, climate change, and health
Lachlan McIver, MSF Tropical Diseases and Planetary Health Advisor, recently guested the podcast "Inside Geneva" to talk about the impacts of climate change on human health and health care. He also shared insights into why MSF attended COP-27 and how our teams work to reduce our environmental footprint. Listen here »
See you in 2023👋
As always we would love to hear of any global health innovation insights or thoughts. Anything you would like to feature in the next newsletter? Reach out with any questions or comments on comms.siu@stockholm.msf.org or simply reply to this email—we would be delighted to continue the conversation!
Best wishes,
The MSF Sweden Innovation Unit Team