In an effort to transform primary health care (PHC) delivery in Indonesia, PATH, with funding from the Gates Foundation, has introduced Kader Kita, a mobile application tailored to the unique needs of community health workers. Currently rolled out in Surabaya (East Java Province) and Keerom (Papua Province), Kader Kita enhances the capacity of community health workers, or kaders, during home visits and health check-ups at integrated health service posts (posyandu), where essential maternal, child, and family health services are delivered. By digitally linking community-level data to public-sector PHC centers (puskesmas), the app strengthens the continuum of care between community and facility entry points, thus fostering a more responsive health system.
What sets Kader Kita apart from other digital health tools deployed in Indonesia is its future-ready technical foundation and deep relevance to the Indonesian health system and needs. Co-created in close consultation with kaders and local stakeholders using human-centered design, the app moves beyond traditional reporting functions to become a true enabler of frontline service delivery. The app was built in partnership with Indonesian design and development partners, SOMIA and Rolling Glory, whose expertise ensured that the final product is both user-friendly, technically robust, and mindful of the kaders’ environment, with offline capabilities for remote settings.
Kader Kita is built on the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standard, which enables the exchange of electronic health data between different systems, ensuring interoperability. This forward-looking design allows seamless integration with existing or future national health data platforms in Indonesia, providing the digital infrastructure needed to support long-term health system transformation. This deliberate approach ensures that the technology supports, rather than burdens, community health workers in their already demanding roles.
Kader Kita is embedded as part of an overall workforce development approach to enable kaders’ acquisition of key care competencies through training and ongoing supportive supervision. A key innovation of Kader Kita is its decision-support feature, comprising an early-warning system that alerts kaders in real time if a client should be referred to a higher level of care. Aligned with Indonesia’s Integrated Primary Health Services (ILP+) framework, this system ensures that early signs of health complications, such as child malnutrition or maternal risk factors, are not missed during community screening efforts—supporting kaders to deliver timely and high-quality services to their clients. As a result, kaders can intervene earlier to reduce the occurrence of preventable conditions, ultimately advancing overall well-being and health equity in underserved communities.
More than just a mobile app, Kader Kita is a reflection of PATH’s long-standing commitment to sustainable PHC system strengthening. By enabling a thruway of service data from home visits and posyandu health check-ups to puskesmas, the app contributes to improved monitoring, resource allocation, and planning at the district level. Its rollout in diverse geographies, from urban Surabaya to remote Keerom, demonstrates both the adaptability and scalability of the tool.
With digital health as a cornerstone of Indonesia’s health transformation agenda, Kader Kita offers a model of how digital innovation, when grounded within the local context and empathy, can reshape the way health care is delivered and make PHC accessible to all.
