A Co-Designed Framework for a Self-Reporting Surveillance Tool for Infectious Disease Outbreaks (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Infectious diseases are a continuing challenge to global health, and supporting surveillance is critical. Digital self-reporting tools can support infectious disease surveillance, but their effectiveness depends on credibility, usefulness, and cultural appropriateness. OBJECTIVE To co-design a context specific framework for a self-reporting surveillance tool for infectious disease outbreaks in Nigeria METHODS We conducted a qualitative co-design study involving stakeholders involved in infectious disease surveillance and response in Abuja, Nigeria. During a two-day workshop, stakeholders, which included individuals engaged in surveillance, community advocacy, digital technology, and policy in Nigeria, worked in groups undertaking activities including brainstorming, card sorting, scenario walkthroughs and then refinement of the framework. Data sources included audio records of the workshops, and co-design artefacts. We used reflexive thematic analysis to synthesize outputs RESULTS A framework was developed including 10 components of a self-reporting surveillance tool: the landing page, menu/navigation, biodata, location, epidemiological information, medical information, comorbidities, feedback, frequently asked questions and other features (including multimodal access and offline options). Cross-cutting priorities included clarity, trust, multilingual access, inclusiveness, linkage to the health system, equity, and usability in low-connectivity settings. CONCLUSIONS Our co-designed framework offers an empirical basis for designing a self-reporting surveillance tool to support infectious disease surveillance in Nigeria. We designed it to be culturally sensitive, trustworthy, and easy to use across languages, with multiple ways to access it, including Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), offline use, and SMS, so it continues to work even in settings with poor internet connectivity.