Improving the Appropriateness of the iCCM Training and Tool Package

This research aimed to determine whether a new training package and set of tools on iCCM for childhood illness is more appropriate for the DRC than the existing one. The new training package and tools consisted of a simplified training manual incorporating adult learning methodologies, simplified pictorial tools, and a reduced number of overall tools at the community level. The new package was assessed to determine whether it maintains the quality of care children receive, increases skill acquisition of CHWs during the training, increases the quality of the data compiled at the health center level, decreases the workload of the CHWs, and decreases the roll out costs. While the methodology was non-experimental and there were limitations on the study design due to contextual restraints, the research found that children seen by relais using the improved package were 2.9 times as likely to receive correct care. Relais were 3.5 times more likely to follow all steps in the assessment and treatment of a case correctly and took an average of 10 minutes less per case, representing an average of 6.2 hours of time saved per month per relais. Finally, the estimated cost saving at scale could amount to over $300,000 over the life of a 4-year program supporting 1,500 relais and covering a population of up to one million people.