An interventional study of Huduma Kwa Wakati - Knowledge Intervention and Huduma Kwa Wakati - Reminders in Short Message Service (SMS), Incentives and Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, sponsored by University of South Carolina. Not yet recruiting at 1 site in Tanzania. Open to female participants aged 15 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-07-06.
Sponsored by University of South Carolina · Not applicable, Interventional, and Health services research
The goal of this cluster-randomized type 1 effectiveness implementation hybrid trial is to evaluate whether a community health worker led, integrated digital health intervention (Huduma Kwa Wakati; "Timely Services" in Kiswahili) can improve rates of timely well visits and receipt of key recommended preventive interventions among children in their first year of life. The hypothesis is that Huduma Kwa Wakati will improve the timeliness and rates of completion of child well visits and receipt of recommended preventive services before age 1 year, compared to the standard of care. Researchers will compare outcomes among children enrolled from intervention clusters and no-intervention comparison clusters. Outcomes will also be compared to a cross-sectional retrospective comparison sample. This study will address the lack of rigorous evidence on the effectiveness of a community-based digital health intervention for promoting rates and timeliness of preventive service receipt among children from sub-Saharan Africa, and identify implementation strategies to facilitate the deployment of integrated community-based digital health interventions in low- and middle-income country settings.
Background and Objective:
In Tanzania, only 68% of children receive key recommended preventive health interventions within their first year of life. Prior research identified substantial rural-urban disparities in rates and timeliness of preventive service receipt in Tanzania, with children in rural settings being more like to receive delayed or no services. This type 1 effectiveness implementation hybrid study will evaluate the effect of Huduma Kwa Wakati ("Timely Services" in Kiswahili), a community-based, integrated digital health intervention, on the timeliness of child well visits and receipt of recommended preventive services in children's first year of life. The intervention combines a knowledge intervention, mobile phone-based reminders, and incentives with the goal to promote timely service receipt.
Methods:
The study will be conducted in the catchment areas of 40 rural health facilities in two predominantly rural regions in Tanzania. From each catchment area, three cohorts of mother-child dyads, one retrospective cohort and two prospective cohorts, will be enrolled into the study. The prospective cohort, comprising mothers from eighty communities ("clusters") within these catchment areas, will be randomized to an intervention or control arm. The timeliness (primary outcome) and coverage (secondary outcome) of child well visits will be observed for 1200 children (800 prospective children and 400 retrospective children). Details of the clinical trial refer to the prospective cohort of 800 mother-child dyads. Study logs, fidelity checklists, quantitative surveys, child health records, and qualitative interviews with mothers and key informants will be used to inform the five constructs of the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework. Results will be used to develop an implementation blueprint that can guide future adaptations, sustainability, and scale-up of Huduma Kwa Wakati.
Hypothesis:
The hypothesis is that Huduma Kwa Wakati is effective for increasing the timeliness of child well visits and rates of preventive services receipt before age 1 year compared to the standard of care.
Expected impact:
This study will address the lack of rigorous evidence on the effectiveness of a community-based digital health intervention for promoting rates and timeliness of recommended health service receipt among children from sub-Saharan Africa, and identify implementation strategies to facilitate the deployment of integrated interventions in low- and middle-income country settings.
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This study's planned enrollment of 800 is above the median of 120 across 1,197 interventional studies indexed under Behavior.
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Inclusion Criteria for the Cross-sectional sample:
Inclusion Criteria for the Longitudinal sample:
Exclusion Criteria:
Within the catchment areas of 40 health facilities, 40 communities ("clusters"; 1 per catchment area) will be assigned to the intervention arm. 40 communities ("clusters"; 1 per catchment area) will be assigned to the control arm. 10 pregnant women in their last trimester of pregnancy will be enrolled from each cluster. Women enrolled from intervention clusters will receive all components of the Huduma Kwa Wakati intervention.
Behavioral: Huduma Kwa Wakati - Knowledge Intervention · Behavioral: Huduma Kwa Wakati - Reminders · Behavioral: Huduma Kwa Wakati - Incentives · Behavioral: Huduma Kwa Wakati - Service notifications
Within the catchment areas of 40 health facilities, 40 communities ("clusters"; 1 per catchment area) will be assigned to the intervention arm. 40 communities ("clusters"; 1 per catchment area) will be assigned to the control arm. 10 pregnant women in their last trimester of pregnancy will be enrolled from each cluster. Women enrolled from control arm will receive baseline and follow-up assessments only.
Counseling scripts assessing and addressing child health-related knowledge gaps
Reminders of upcoming well visit due dates, sent to the mother's mobile phone
Conditional incentives for timely service receipt, tailored to each child's well visit schedule
Service notifications (e.g., related to stockouts or service non-availability), sent to the mother's mobile phone
Delay in days (continuous) for the child well visit due at age 14 weeks
The average number of days between the due date of the 14 week well visit and the date on which the child actually attends this visit. Dates abstracted from the child's health book.
Time frame: Assessed during the endline survey, an average follow-up period of 1 year
Delay > 28 days (binary) for the child well visit due at age 14 weeks
The percentage of participants with a delay \>28 days between the visit due date (at age 14 weeks) and the date on which the visit was attended. Dates abstracted from the child's health book.
Time frame: Assessed during the endline survey, an average follow-up period of 1 year
Receipt of all recommended services during the child's first year of life (binary)
The percentage of children who attended all visits and received all services recommended by age 1 year. Coverage abstracted from the child's health book.
Time frame: Assessed during the endline survey, an average follow-up period of 1 year
Plan to share: No — The data from this study will be available from the National Institute for Medical Research, Muhimbili Research Centre, Tanzania, but restrictions apply that are governed by consent forms and data transfer agreements. Data may be made available by the authors upon reasonable request and with permission of the National Medical Research Review Committee at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) in Tanzania.
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