CBM Data Collection App

About CBM Data Collection App

The CBM data collection app collects data on-site and sends them securely to the server. This app offers that data can be monitored and managed in real time, while ensuring consistency across countries and minimising human error in data entry. The mobile application has the focus on its ease of use and simplicity. Also, key aspects as the requirement for offline functionalities and accessibility features were considered.
Information technology is becoming a major feature of emergent development practice. The widespread use of mobile phone message services provides community workers with the ability to feedback information directly exploiting innovative opportunities to acquire better information and deliver better results.
CBM is currently joining these important developments by offering this mobile application technology for their CBID initiative to collect data for the monitoring of their baseline and progress of the CBID initiative plan.

The mobile application will collect and store participants data using application-level encryption and pseudonymization where data is stored.

Access to the mobile app will be restricted to users with an account. Such accounts are created from the CBM back office, and users that need access to the app for data collection are assigned the role of “Data Collector”. The manager creating the account for the app user will also have to define which surveys the app user will be able to download from the server when logged into the app.
To collect data, the user will first have to download surveys from the server. By clicking the download button, the user will access a screen to view all surveys available for them and download all or a selected set of surveys from the server (the CBM Back Office defines which studies each app user can access via the Download button in the App).
Once the survey(s) are downloaded to the device, the user will be able to select one to fill it out. The first question of any survey will always be to digitally record the consent of the participant to take part in that survey. By clicking on the checkbox, the data collector confirms that the person whose data is being collected has read, understood, accepted and signed the informed consent.
If the app user tries to proceed on a screen where a required question has not been answered yet, a warning pop-up will appear to indicate which question(s) must be completed in order to proceed.
If the app user tries to exit the survey prior to completing it, a warning pop-up will appear so that the user can confirm he/she wants to leave the survey and, via a “Save and Exit” button, the partially completed survey response will be saved inside the Edit Surveys section of the App for future completion. The partially completed survey response will be saved with a pre-formatted name (eg ParticipantID-yyyy-mm-dd) that is editable to allow the app user to define a custom name for that survey response. Incomplete forms will be saved in local storage on the device until marked as finalized and sent to the server.
At the end of the survey, the user will access a summary screen with the answers to all the questions of that survey, so they can be reviewed before finalizing the survey.
After this summary screen, the user will access a final screen of the survey where it’s possible to mark the form as finalized (for sending to the server)
Saved survey responses (not ‘marked as finalized’ surveys) can be edited. By clicking the “Edit” button, the user accesses a screen with a list of saved surveys, and by clicking on one of them, the user accesses the survey to modify whatever is needed (answers, name, and mark the form as finalized).
From this screen, the user is also able to select finalized surveys and send them to the server.