Current use of and challenges affecting the ICT utilization in family planning data management at primary health services in Rwanda

Abstract

Between 2005 and 2020, the percentage of married women in Rwanda who used contraception rose from 17% to 64%. Married women's unmet demand for family planning dropped from 38% to 14% over the same time period. The obstacles associated with the collection, management, and reporting of family planning data, reproductive health, and a variety of other health issues, might be significantly reduced with the help of ICT. There has, however, been little research done on how ICT is being used in basic healthcare facilities to manage family planning data. In order to ascertain the existing situation and the obstacles preventing ICT use in family planning data recording and reporting at the primary healthcare level, my study's objective is to research the usage of ICT in the management of family planning data in primary healthcare services in Rwanda. Methodology: A quantitative & qualitative cross-section study have been used in this study. The population was 54 nurses who are providing family planning services, where the sample has been convenience sampling chosen and responded to the questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS software and qualitative thematic analysis to achieve the study objectives of to determine the current use of ICT in the recording and management of family planning data in primary health services of Rwanda and to identify challenges that affect ICT use at primary health services in recording and management of family planning data. Results: The current study found that all participants used paper-based methods to record and report family planning data. As shown in figure below the results shown that there is paper-based usage in FP data management. The majority of participants faced challenges of paper-based usage such as illegibility of handwriting, error in calculation, reporting error (to be mistaken) and unavailability of data/information. Other challenges are related to electronic usage such as lack of adequate ICT infrastructure, limited ICT literacy and training, data security and privacy concerns and limited financial resources. Conclusion: Nurses are still recording and reporting family planning data manually using papers. The recorded data is submitted to the data manager for recording them. Nurses still face challenges to apply electronic management of FP data. In order to improve the efficiency in FP data management, there is a need to avail needed ICT including but not limited to ICT infrastructure and train staff in using them. There will be consideration of ICT tools, such as HMIS or other electronic databases to be used by nurses especially in Family planning services which enable efficient data collection, storage, reporting and analysis. This will help to reduce reporting errors, improve the efficiency, accuracy, and accessibility of family planning data management, leading to better health outcomes and informed decision-making.