Increasing demand and improving delivery of vaccines through human-centered design

Derz Consulting in Ethiopia and Direct Consulting and Logistics Ltd in Nigeria will expand the PATH Living Labs human-centered design (HCD) model to reach more children with lifesaving vaccines using a Living Labs award, funded by the Gates Foundation. This funding will help local partners increase demand for and improve the delivery of childhood vaccines, including measles, human papillomavirus (HPV), diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis (DTP), and polio vaccines. Together with caregivers, communities, health care workers, and decision-makers, the partners will co-create innovative solutions.

PATH’s Living Labs accelerates health innovation by collaborating with users to rapidly design, test, and scale solutions to longstanding challenges. By combining HCD, which emphasizes listening to and empowering users, with processes led by local experts who understand the health care system, the Living Labs model can move from rapid ideation and prototyping to iterative testing within weeks instead of months or years. By keeping users at the center of the work and partnering closely with local organizations, embedding Living Labs into a country’s innovation life cycle can enhance access, use, and adoption of solutions that improve health system capacity and resilience.

Living Labs has successfully implemented its model in three core countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, and Zambia. Additionally, several other countries are using an alternative working model, including Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana, India, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Vietnam. In identifying suitable partners for this work in priority regions, we sought organizations that demonstrated commitment to HCD or behavioral change and have established relationships with the ministries of health, community stakeholders, and health care workers.

Derz Consulting will establish a Living Lab in Ethiopia focused on increasing vaccine uptake with particular attention to rural-to-urban migrant communities by identifying barriers to vaccination and addressing high dropout rates. Derz will implement PATH's 4D approach (Discover, Define, Dream, Design) across three cities in Ethiopia, engaging caregivers, health care workers, and community influencers through participatory research methods and co-creation sessions. The team will develop and test prototypes to address vaccination challenges and will establish a diverse user advisory group to provide oversight and ensure solutions align with community needs and priorities.

Direct Consulting and Logistics Ltd (DCL) will implement the Living Labs model in Nigeria using a quasi-experimental mixed-method design to identify and address demand, supply, and gender-related barriers to routine and campaign immunizations. Working with the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, DCL will conduct formative research in two local government areas across two zero-dose states, followed by co-creation workshops using PATH's 4D approach with caregivers, health care providers, and community influencers. The project will establish an advisory group of key immunization stakeholders and culminate in an open-day dissemination meeting to present co-created solutions designed to reduce Nigeria's high number of zero-dose children.

Over the next year, PATH’s Living Labs will work closely to onboard these new partners. As work begins and progresses, we will share updates on the progress of implementing the Living Labs HCD model in both countries.