Background

Identifying the needs of disadvantaged populations is essential to addressing those needs. Investigations of healthcare access in rural sub-Saharan Africa rely on in-person interviews and SMS, which have distinct limitations.

Objectives

To use interactive-voice-response (IVR) technology to survey healthcare utilization patterns in rural Ghana.

Methods

This project used IVR to survey healthcare behavior by mobile phone users in rural Ghana. Automated voice messages offered an 18-question survey in 5 local languages.

Results

Out of >64,000 placed calls, 8,601 proceeded to the survey. Survey completion rate was 1.3%, for 827 full respondents, at a total cost of 5 USD for each full survey response.

Conclusions

IVR has limitations, but the ability to engage rural populations with low time and resource investment is valuable.