Skip to main content

COVID-19 Symptoms Monitoring App Supports PHIA Surveys

September 07, 2021

Working in partnership with national ministries of health, Ciheb has helped conduct population-based HIV impact assessments (PHIAs) in countries supported by PEPFAR. These surveys provide critical information about the status of HIV/AIDS by estimating HIV prevalence, or the total number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in a country.

Ciheb is engaged in two ongoing PHIAs: in Botswana, the Botswana AIDS Impact Survey V (BAIS V) and in Zambia, the Zambia Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (ZAMPHIA). Both surveys were originally scheduled to take place in 2020 but experienced delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, pushing the implementation of both PHIAs into 2021. 

COVID-19 created unforeseen challenges to the PHIA projects that threatened the health of survey staff and participants and required daily symptom monitoring. In response, Ciheb developed the UMB PHIA Companion Tool, a COVID-19 symptom screening app to support COVID-19 risk mitigation compliance for staff to use daily before training and field activities.

How it Works

The UMB PHIA Companion Tool provides daily monitoring of COVID-19 symptom screening and trend analysis. To get started, staff download the “CLT Symptoms Screening” tool on mobile devices from an app store, then create personal profiles and activate their accounts. 

The user interface dashboard displays symptoms screening for each day of the month. There are three main colors for the symptoms screening results: “cleared” (shown by a green dot), “not cleared” (shown by a red dot), and “not completed” (shown by a grey dot).

After filling out a short survey that covers symptoms consistent with COVID-19, contact with a known SARS-CoV-2 positive case, and personal recent test result status, the user is informed whether they are cleared for work based on their responses.

Users also record their temperature and verify the results with their team lead or supervisor. Users must receive a green dot in the morning to proceed to work. The use of the color coded dots enables rapid review by supervisors to confirm screening completion and result, as well as for data monitors reviewing screening completion on the central repository each day.

Developing the App

Ciheb developed the user interface of the UMB PHIA Companion Tool using a cross-platform framework providing support for Android and web platforms using the same code base. The dashboard was developed using Java.

Development began on December 18, 2020, went live on January 3, 2021, and is in use by UMB PHIA teams in the field, laboratories, and central offices where surveys are being performed. Ciheb staff developed the tool in just two weeks through agile methodology. They divided the task into sprints — after each task was completed, the team would test it, iterate, then work through the next task. App enhancement has continued through beta testing and survey data collection.

Lessons Learned

Agile methodology proved to be the right approach to building the UMB PHIA Companion Tool software on a tight schedule. Clear communication with stakeholders and team members was also helpful, as stakeholders provided guidance on what was needed, and team members understood where to individually focus.

The UMB PHIA Companion Tool can easily be scaled up to any size as needed and can be adapted to other projects or offices as needed.


Download this story as a PDF.

Contact

Center for International Health, Education, and Biosecurity
Institute of Human Virology

Anthony Okoth
Regional Communications Specialist

Related stories

    Wednesday, June 01, 2022

    UMB supports MoH in task-shifting COVID-19 testing

    To expand access to COVID-19 testing to rural and hard-to-reach areas, the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Malawi decentralized testing from laboratories using conventional molecular platforms. The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) – Ciheb Malawi AMPLIFY program trained laboratory personnel in peripheral facilities in using rapid antigen testing that can be performed by non-laboratory staff. The MOH started using COVID-19 rapid antigen testing in November 2021 and has continued expanding this service to new testing sites.


    Tuesday, March 08, 2022

    Kenya eMentorship Tool Improves Service Delivery

    How completely and consistently services are delivered is a key component in how successfully facilities provide support to people living with HIV. Working together, the program team responsible for providing TA and the HI team established the system requirements and set about developing the eMentorship tool.


    Thursday, December 16, 2021

    Analytical Database Development Allows for Analysis of Nigerian NDR Data

    Over the last year, Ciheb developed a database that allows policy makers, researchers, and data scientists to analyze anonymized patient-level HIV data from the Nigerian National Data Repository.


    Wednesday, December 08, 2021

    Supporting the Rollout of the COVID-19 Vaccine in Kenya

    To combat the spread of COVID-19 in Kenya, Ciheb’s local partner, Ciheb-Kenya, received a five-year CDC-funded grant to support national and county activities towards rolling out COVID-19 vaccination. The Technical Assistance to Ready and Accelerate Capacity of public health programs in Kenya (TRACK) program is focused on supporting the development of national policies and training material on COVID-19 vaccination and teaching national trainers to cascade this training to counties.


    Wednesday, December 01, 2021

    Preliminary results of national HIV survey (BAIS V) demonstrate Botswana’s remarkable progress achieving HIV epidemic control

    Preliminary results from the fifth Botswana HIV/AIDS Impact Survey (BAIS V), announced today by the President, His Excellency Dr. Mokgweetsi E. K. Masisi demonstrate that for the first time at a national level among adults aged 15-64, Botswana has exceeded the 2020 UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets which call for 90 percent of all people living with HIV (PLHIV) to be aware of their status, 90 percent of those aware of their status to be on antiretroviral treatment (ART), and 90 percent of those on ART to achieve viral load suppression.


    Saturday, September 25, 2021

    COVID-19 Team Helps Steer BAIS V Survey Through Field Implementation in Botswana

    At the resumption of the fifth Botswana HIV/AIDS Impact Survey (BAIS V), the project convened a small group of three to lead the COVID-19 response. Over the following months, this trio would lead a herculean effort to safeguard the health of staff and participants and allow the survey to proceed as safely as possible.


    Sunday, September 05, 2021

    Dashboards to Support Nigeria COVID-19 Serosurveillance Study

    In the fall of 2020, Ciheb conducted the first phase of a COVID-19 population-based serosurveillance study (COVID-19 Household Seroprevalance Survey) in the Nigerian states of Enugu, Nasarawa, and Gombe to assess the prevalence of COVID-19 in the country.


    Thursday, May 27, 2021

    ZAMPHIA Survey Prepares to Relaunch in Zambia

    The Zambia Population-Based HIV Impact Assessment (ZAMPHIA) is preparing to recommence fieldwork at the beginning of May, and staff and communities are being mobilized in anticipation of the relaunch.


    Monday, May 24, 2021

    Ciheb-Kenya on the Front Lines of the COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout

    Ciheb-Kenya, our local Kenyan partner, has been working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Kenya Ministry of Health, and the National Vaccines and Immunization Programme (NVIP) to support COVID-19 vaccine preparedness through the ongoing Technical Assistance to Ready and Accelerate Capacities of Public Health Programs in Kenya (TRACK) project. Kenya received its first shipment of vaccines several weeks ago and has been moving ahead quickly. As of April 21, a total of 721,509 persons have been vaccinated against COVID-19 countrywide.