Using smartphone adaptive training to improve newborn and child hospital care in Mwanza
Official title: Using adaptive e-learning and smartphones to improve newborn and pediatric admission care outcomes in Mwanza, Tanzania
Funded at Stanford University · NIH-11392144 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses smartphone-based adaptive training to help health workers in Mwanza give better care to newborns and young children.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R21 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Stanford University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Stanford, United States) |
| Project start | September 15, 2024 |
| Project end | July 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $80,182 |
| NIH project number | 3R21TW012612-02S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11392144 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Newborns and children (birth through 11 years) who are admitted to participating hospitals and clinics in Mwanza, Tanzania are the patients most likely to be included and to benefit.
✕Less likely to help
Children who are treated outside the participating facilities, live outside Mwanza, or need care not covered by the trained admission procedures are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this project.
What this research studies
From a patient's perspective, hospitals and clinics in Mwanza will give their health workers short, personalized e-learning lessons on smartphones combined with hands-on skills practice that is tailored to each facility's needs. The program, called PACE, delivers refresher content that adapts to what each provider already knows and allows rapid updates to training material. Researchers will track provider performance and patient outcomes across different facility types to finalize how to implement PACE widely. Early pilot work showed better provider knowledge, and this project will look for related improvements in admission care and child health.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could produce better-trained clinicians and fewer newborn and child complications or deaths from improved admission care.
How similar studies have gone: Pilot studies of the PACE program improved provider knowledge, but larger implementation work is needed to confirm benefits for patient health outcomes.
Where this research is happening
-
Stanford University
Stanford, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Meaney, Peter a — Stanford University
- Study coordinator: Meaney, Peter a
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.