REMIND
REMIND stands for reminding patients about taking medication and forms the baseline of most of our digital health studies. The REMIND-studies are being conducted at the Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute (KCRI) and focus on using digital tools for prevention and management of disease. The main studies focus on adherence to treatment and retention in care whereby the community is reminded about taking medication and clinic visits.
Currently, REMIND-KID is our main project, which is a two-stage project whereby we will firstly investigate the needs and contents for a customized digital adherence tool (DAT) for children, adolescents and breastfeeding women living with HIV. In the second stage, we will investigate the customized DAT in a clinical trial. The study is funded by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) and has a large component of capacity building through scholarships for PhD students and MSc students.
Another currently ongoing study is the REMIND-TB study, which is a cluster randomized trial investigating the implementation and effectiveness of EvriMed (another DAT) on adherence to treatment among TB patients in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. The study is funded through the TB Reach programme of the Stop TB Partnership.
Lastly, another ongoing study is REMIND-ADR in which we pilot a digital tool on creating awareness about pharmacovigilance among people living with HIV on antiretroviral treatment. SMS is being used to ask whether PLHIV experienced any adverse drug reactions after which they are prompted to report the reactions to the authorities. This study is funded through the East African Consortium of clinical REsearch (EACCR) which is a network under EDCTP funding.
Besides the REMIND studies, we also use digital tools for education and surveillance. One study is the ONDOILO study in which we use interactive voice response calling to improve knowledge and use of contraceptives among Maasai. Further, we have finalized our CoYoMen study in which we used SMS to investigate real time sexual behaviour including contraceptive use.