About the Network
understanding community-based innovation for maternal and child health
Co-Designing Community-based ICTs Interventions for Maternal and Child Health in South Africa (CoMaCH) is a project funded by GCRF Digital Innovation for Development in Africa. The aim is to establish new relationships and stimulate novel research and innovation in the thematic area of Digital Health, for a second-stage funding application (£1M to £3M over 3y) to deliver a fully realized project.
Our goal for 2020 is to develop a network of stakeholders to explore the potential role of digital interventions for maternal and child health (MCH), putting communities and community-based interventions at the centre of our explorations. Stakeholders, in this case, start with expecting and postnatal parents, and community health workers, but also include healthcare workers, NGOs working in MCH, community leaders, provincial and national government, and any other entities with the shared goal of improving MCH.
The CoMaCH project includes 19 Co-Investigators (Co-Is), led by Nervo Verdezoto from Cardiff University (UK) and Melissa Densmore from University of Cape Town (SA). Collectively, we draw on expertise in medicine, public health, geography, anthropology, psychology, communication, design, social sciences applied to health and computer science. The South Africa team also includes Tebogo Mothiba (University of Limpopo), Shane Norris (Wits University), Alastair van Heerden (Human Sciences Research Council and Wits), Yaseen Joolay (UCT), Simone Honikman (UCT), and Fiona Ross (UCT).
We are inviting potential partners involved in maternal and child health, particularly if they have an interest in exploring the use of participatory and community-based information and communications technologies, to join the network as collaborators.
