Digital Health in Demand Generation Toolkit

"In addition to the local buy-in and collaboration established before project initiation, it is important that individuals from or familiar with the community and local context are a part of your team; involved in the design, development, implementation, leadership and management of the project and technology throughout its life-cycle."

This is one concrete suggestion offered in the Digital Health in Demand Generation toolkit, which provides resources on how to use digital technologies to increase awareness and interest in RMNCH products and services, highlighting information on real-world applications, best practices, lessons learned, and considerations for demand generation programmes. Developed by HealthEnabled for the United Nations Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women's and Children's Health ("the Commission"), it builds upon the commodity-driven Implementation Kit (I-Kit) strategies developed by the Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3), an initiative of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Program. The 14 considerations covered in the toolkit span the entire project development cycle – from initial interest, to implementation and refinement, to scale-up and sustainability.

The Commission, which was established in 2012 as a part of the Every Woman, Every Child (EWEC) initiative, seeks to increase access to 13 overlooked life-saving commodities. Ten recommendations and actions were identified that help expand demand for, access to, and use of the commodities in hard-to-reach areas.

On page 3, a series of questions is designed to help the reader navigate this toolkit, taking him or her to specific and relevant resources in the toolkit based on where he or she is in the project development cycle. For example: "Are you already engaged with stakeholders but still unsure about the approach?" Another chart on page 5 provides names of and links to key resources for using digital health in demand generation. Next, for each resource, the relevant lessons are listed. For example: "The Greentree Principles for Digital Development" form the cornerstone of the design and development of ICT programs. The nine principles serve as a guide and reminder that technology is an enabler, not a solution in and of itself." Finally, links to additional resources on digital health and its application to support public health programming and medicine are listed.