The University Medical Centre of Groningen (UMCG) students visited Bangladesh in May. The visit started in Dhaka and took students to other rural areas of the country to participate in the field activities.
The main goals of their visits were to get to know the different organisations in person, to help with the micro-planning of the activities, and to assist with training of health teams in the use of the AWACAN tool.
AWACAN – a survey tool to collect data from patients
The AWACAN training emphasises for research purposes. Baseline data collection initially paper based, followed by KOBO Tool.
The data collected from the patients with the tool is related to:
- Decision-making about their health
- Cervical cancer symptoms and awareness
- Knowledge of risk factors
- Knowledge of symptoms
- Help-seeking behaviour
- Confidence in their skills and behaviours in relation to a cervical cancer signs/symptoms
- Barriers to seeking medical help
PRESCRIP-TEC is using the AWACAN tool to adapt the project’s key messages and to improve strategies for adherence to treatment and follow-up.
Pilot for the paper-based baseline survey
During the visit, a pilot study for the paper-based baseline survey was conducted in seven households in Gaibandha and Sundargonj using three data collectors. The three UMCG students helped with this survey.
Other notable activities in other visits were:
- mHealth app training
- Sensitization meeting with the civil surgeon
- Meeting with GoB in Kurigram
- Discussion with Friendship Community MedicAids (FCMs), assessment of the mHealth FCMs who received HPV Training
- Medical and technical mHealth orientation and analysis of the situation
- Electronic Medical Record (EMR) demo
- Woman’s Day celebration with FCMs
- Visit to the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddrb), including meetings on the survey report
Below are some photos of the highlights of the visits to rural areas or Northern Bangladesh:
Fruitful meetings and talks on the PRESCRIP-TEC project
The regular fieldwork activities for the PRESCRIP-TEC project have started in northern Bangladesh. The visit of the UMCG team helped with better organisation of the fieldwork and identified areas for improvement. There were very fruitful meetings and talks. This visit will be repeated in the Southern areas of Bangladesh in upcoming months.
