This abstract has been accepted at the 2024 DHIS2 Annual Conference
Perceptions, Challenges And Proposed Solutions To Limited DHIS2 Data Use By Peripheral-Level Health System Stakeholders In Cameroon.
Introduction: The digitisation of health data through DHIS2 has rendered advantages like easier data accessibility, analytics, and informed decision-making to healthcare systems. Since DHIS2’s nationwide implementation in Cameroon in 2015, the central-level health system stakeholders have consistently leveraged the digitised DHIS2 data for decision-making. However, despite DHIS2 adoption across Cameroon’s peripheral health facilities where the data is actually digitised, maximal utilisation of DHIS2 data for localised decision-making remains limited. Enhancing peripheral-level use of DHIS2 data is critical for stakeholders to experience digitisation benefits, ensure continuity, and improve efficiency. This research investigates peripheral health stakeholders’ perceptions, challenges, and potential solutions regarding DHIS2 data use for decision-making in Cameroon. By understanding barriers and opportunities to data use by the agents of digitisation, it aims to elicit how DHIS2 can be implemented better, to empower localised decision-making in the health system. Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with two key stakeholder groups of the peripheral health system: health facility managers and district medical officers in the Southwest Region. Results: The study revealed high awareness of DHIS2 among health facility managers and district medical officers, with all participants expressing knowledge of the system and its potential benefits. Participants perceived DHIS2 data as valuable for improving health data accessibility, data-driven decision making, analytics, data sharing, and distribution. Examples of DHIS2 data use included resource allocation, status projection, planning interventions, and evaluating facility performance. Challenges reducing effective utilisation were identified across several domains: skill-related barriers such as insufficient DHIS2 skills and digital literacy, data quality issues reducing trust in reported statistics, infrastructure limitations including lack of access to devices, electricity, and internet connectivity, and lack of designated human resources for data management. Proposed solutions centred on capacity building, incentivisation structures, infrastructural support and raising awareness of DHIS2’s capabilities. Conclusion: There is acceptance and enthusiasm for a DHIS2 data-driven culture for localised decision-making among peripheral health stakeholders in Cameroon. Targeted capacity building and infrastructure interventions could help mitigate current challenges and optimise systematic use of the digitised data for the benefit of the health system. Keywords: DHIS2, data, data use, Cameroon, challenges, perceptions, solutions, peripheral health system.
Primary Author: Glennis Ayuk
Keywords:
DHIS2, data use, Cameroon, challenges, perceptions, solutions, peripheral health system
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