This application is developed as a Digital Decision Support (DDS) tool for the provision of comprehensive abortion care and complements the Clinical practice handbook for quality abortion care (2023), both of which are based on the WHO Abortion care guideline (2022). The main goal of the tool is to support health workers in the process of decision-making by implementing WHO standards and guidelines for the provision of quality abortion care. This is achieved by, providing checklists and contextual information for the health worker to aid case management, which will aid in minimizing errors in the provision of medical abortion, and facilitate tailored post-abortion follow-ups and appropriate referrals.
The DDS tool will be available to a wide range of health workers via mobile devices to be used in the context of healthcare provision. It will serve as a digitalized job aid that combines the information of care seekers with the health worker’s knowledge and WHO clinical guidelines to support service delivery. The tool is also expected to increase the capacity of care providers as it guides health workers through algorithms and best practices to support service delivery according to the WHO clinical handbook.
The app is expected to aid health workers in decision-making, in which specific recommendations are presented to the healthcare provider for consideration based on the characteristics of individual patients.
The tool is not designed to capture and store health information of individual care seekers and thus cannot be used as an electronic medical record or a follow-up tool. The tool is not meant to supersede or replace clinical judgment. In addition, the DDS tool is not intended to be used for provision of training or educational material.