Software Tools to Facilitate Community-Based Surveillance: A Scoping Review

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Digital Health
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Traditional health facility-based surveillance often yields incomplete and delayed health data.
• Community-based surveillance (CBS) offers early warning for disease outbreaks and facilitates rapid response.
• Existing literature lacks a comprehensive review of software tools for CBS.

Purpose of the Study:

• To map available software tools capable of supporting community-based surveillance (CBS).
• To identify use cases for these tools in community health programs and emergency settings.
• To address the gap in the literature regarding CBS software.

Main Methods:

• A scoping review of academic literature and supplementary resources was performed.
• Qualitative interviews were conducted with stakeholders in digital community health and surveillance.
• Software tools were evaluated based on their capability to support CBS reporting.

Main Results:

• All reviewed tools support CBS reporting; CommCare, Community Health Toolkit, and DHIS2 Tracker meet all 10 mapped attributes.
• AVADAR and Nyss are specifically designed for CBS and volunteer use.
• Other tools are designed for community health workers with broader applications.

Conclusions:

• Multiple software solutions exist to enhance community-level public health surveillance.
• Future efforts should focus on tailoring tools to national health needs and promoting integration.
• There is potential for advancing event-based surveillance at the community level.