Digital Adaptation Kits

What are they and

why should I use them?

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SMART GUIDELINES

L1 L2 L3 L4 L5
Narrative Digital Machine Reference Precision
guideline adaptation readable software health
kit content model

What are Digital Adaptation What is in a SMART DAK?

Kits (DAKs)?
1 Health Relevant health
Digital adaptation kits (DAKs) are part of the interventions interventions and
recommendations from
WHO SMART Guidelines approach, which and WHO guidelines and
empowers countries to integrate recommended recommendations guidance

clinical and public health practices, and data

2 Generic Roles, responsibilities,
recommendations into digital systems. competencies and
personas essential interventions
DAKs are: performed by targeted
personas
A software-neutral, systematic approach
to digitize clinical and public health
3 User Brief narrative description
content and ensure use of standards of how the targeted
scenarios personas may engage
(e.g. International Classification of
with the digital system
Diseases—ICD).
Structured documentation based on 4 Business Generic workflows
representing clinical and
WHO clinical, health system and data use processes & non-clinical processes
workflows
recommendations to inform the design of
digital systems.
5 Core data Data elements used for

Challenges with paper-based

clinical decision-making,
elements inidcators, and other data

systems at point of care:

needs

6 Decision- Decision tables

Narrative format of guidelines requires representing counselling
support logic and treatment algorithms,
significant efforts to accurately translate
scheduling logic
for use in digital systems.
Paper service registers hamper timely 7 Indicators and Indicators for reporting
and monitoring with
uptake of care standards. performance numerator, denominator
metrics of data elements based
Inadequate mechanisms to assess on existing guidance
consistency of health protocols to
recomendations within paper systems. 8 Functional and A non-exhaustive list of
key functions and non-
non-functional functional requirements
requirements for a digital tracking and
decision support system
DAKs aim to improve quality of care and interoperability by:
Defining the expected data, functionality, and health content to be incorporated into digital
systems.
Providing clear descriptions of the decision-support logic, algorithms and indicator calculations for
embedding within digital systems.
Detailing the core data elements, coded to the ICD and other terminology standards to ensure
consistency of how data is represented.
Distilling workflows to help with the coordination of care between actors, augmented by digital
systems.

How does it work?

DAKs support country’s digitization journeys, Value of DAKs across a country’s digital health
regardless of where they are in that journey: ecosytem:

Ministries of health
Digital system
can oversee and ensure
established validity of the underlying
Update and incorporate
content within digital system to data and health content
align with WHO and national within the digital systems.
recommendations

Software developers
Digital system in and technologists have
planning stages clarity and a structured
Kickstart the requirements process for incorporating
gathering process for designing WHO recommendations
digital systems
into digital systems.

Health workers can

Updating paper access updated guidelines
registers and job aids for decision support logic
Align and update paper forms within the digital system
to be consistent with WHO to deliver quality care to
recommendations
clients.

INTERESTED IN IMPLEMENTING DAKS? For information on how to introduce

DAKs within your systems contact:
For all SMART Guidelines, including DAKs visit:
https://www.who.int/teams/digital-health-and-
SMART_DAKS@who.int
innovation/smart-guidelines