Community health workers (CHWs) have the potential to reduce neonatal and maternal mortality rates when used effectively. However, community health programs are difficult to setup and run. Mobile applications, like CommCare, that are used by CHWs to collect information during routine home visits, provide opportunities for increased supervision, accountability, and feedback.

In this project, we explore completing the feedback loop with CHWs by sending back performance feedback in the form of rich graphs. Once a week a CHW will receive an SMS message with a link to her specific performance graph. The project will be evaluated with a randomized controlled trial in India using three groups: (1) a control group, (2) a treatment group that only receives information about individual performance, and (3) a group that receives information about individual performance, as well as how it ranks with a set of her peers.

The specific graphs to be used are currently being piloted and the software being developed. The study will launch before the end of 2012 in India with 120 CHWs.