Interactive Mobile Support for Frontline Workers Promoting Breastfeeding

More than four million frontline workers (FLWs) serve over one billion of the world's poorest.

FLW programs reach broadly over remote and underserved regions, and ensuring that workers have sufficient and consistent knowledge, skills, and support is challenging.

Digital innovations that enhance and complement FLWs knowledge have the potential to be highly cost-effective, scalable ways to improve infant and child wellbeing, especially when compared with traditional multi-day in-person training programs.

To support FLWs to provide the most important information to new mothers during home visits, the implementing partner is designing an app that uses behavior change techniques to prepare FLWs to talk about breastfeeding with their clients in a culturally sensitive way.

Drawing from behavioral science, the app uses automatic notifications, simple clinical algorithms, and demonstration videos to help FLWs identify and address breastfeeding challenges.

User testing includes one-on-one and small group testing with FLWs and community members in Phase 1, and complete training and app testing with a larger number of randomly selected FLWs in Phase 2.

Although the app is designed to be used by FLWs, the overall approach can be translated to other sectors, particularly where an intermediary aims to facilitate behavior change. If the app is shown to be effective, it could be scaled up to reach the 100,000 FLWs across Pakistan.