Patient and public involvement

The patients contributed to identifying the issue which inspired the research question and outcome measures. During previous qualitative research in the same setting, patients expressed concerns regarding long distances and financially prohibitive travels to access health facilities and inappropriate postdischarge service. They also signalled their appreciation for services rendered to them by CHWs. The intervention that was implemented in this study was informed by the current literature showcasing advancement in mHealth in high-income countries. We believed that we could leverage the telecommunication advances and well-established CHWs’ network available in Rwanda to improve postdischarge follow-up care for postoperative patients, especially women after c-section. We did not involve patients in the design of this study, but they were strong partners in the recruitment and the conduct of the study. The study results were disseminated to the hospital leadership and to CHWs.