If you had visited Geoffrey Enonda’s office five years ago, you would have found him buried in stacks of files, meticulously sorting through the extensive data collected by the community health workers (CHWs) he supervises. Today, Enonda, a Community Health Assistant (CHA) in Vihiga County, Kenya, is more productive and satisfied with his work, thanks to the digital tools that have transformed his daily tasks.

With just a simple swipe on a tablet, Enonda now effortlessly performs his duties. Unlike in the past, when he could only supervise a handful of CHWs daily, he now has the capacity to monitor each of them daily.

“Prompt reporting of community health findings has enabled me to respond quickly to disease outbreaks, identify vaccine defaulters, and address public health concerns requiring extensive education,” he says.

Last year, Enonda, along with 146 other CHAs, received tablets as part of the Kenyan government’s initiative to roll out an electronic community health system and revitalize the community health program. Living Goods facilitated their training before handing over the digital tools, significantly simplifying their supervision tasks.

With these devices, Enonda can access real-time data synchronized by CHWs. This is a far cry from the situation years ago when he first began working at the Emuhondo Community Health Unit (CU) in Emuhaya Sub-County. Back then, a typical day started at 8 am at Ebusiratsi Health Centre, where he would sort through paper records and schedules before heading out for fieldwork.

“In the field, I would take short notes while supervising the CHWs, then return to the office to compile handwritten reports—a tedious process,” says Enonda.

He recalls how often papers would be misplaced, forcing him to return to households to retrieve missing data. Requests from the health department for records were challenging to fulfill if he was out of the office, as he couldn’t carry around the bulky forms. Additionally, he would spend KSh 500 each time photocopying the forms.

“In emergencies, I had to rush back to the office, and sometimes the health department had to delay their activities until I was available,” he adds.

With 80% of households now registered in the digital system, Enonda is eager to use the data linked to the national dashboard to monitor key health indicators in the county, such as positive malaria diagnoses in children under one year old, new pregnancy registrations, and maternal care.

Living Goods has also engaged Sub-County Health Management Teams (SCHMTs) and facility in-charges to support ongoing community health activities. This includes commodity management and performance management for CHWs, where the support of CHAs like Enonda is crucial.