Seed Grant Success: Researchers Secure Funding to Pilot MoyoTrak in Malawi
Dr Abbey Eeles, Dr Amanda Kwong (Department of Physiotherapy) and Dr Elyse Passmore (Royal Children's Hospital), in partnership with Myness Ndambo (Kamuzu University of Health Sciences) and mentor Siân Slade, have been awarded an Impact Health Catalyst seed grant to develop MoyoTrak, a consumer-driven suite of tools to improve adherence to the Post Discharge Malaria Continuum of Care (PDMCC) for children under five in Nkhotakota District, Malawi.
Malaria remains a leading cause of childhood illness and death across sub-Saharan Africa; children hospitalised with severe malaria or severe anaemia are at particularly high risk of readmission or death within six months of discharge.
To address this, MoyoTrak combines four stakeholder identified strategies:
- a caregiver calendar to support accurate home dosing of post discharge malaria chemoprevention,
- enhanced discharge education resources for health workers,
- a simple digital tracking system for reminders and regional follow up,
- trained community peer navigators who provide in person support, reinforce dosing schedules, identify challenges early and bridge families with local health services.
MoyoTrak will use iterative codesign workshops with caregivers and health providers (small, inclusive groups) to develop minimum viable products for each component.
The group will travel to Malawi in late July to meet stakeholders, strengthen partnerships, further refine its tools and strategies, and plan for a future implementation study and potential scaleup to inform national PDMCC practice. By improving caregiver adherence to PDMCC, MoyoTrak aims to reduce readmissions and post discharge mortality, ease financial burdens on households and improve continuity of care.
