Unleash the Power of Case Management with Entities

Imagine a world where you are no longer limited to static data and can collect dynamic data interlinked over a period of time making it easier for you to do project follow-ups. Monitoring a project conducted over time on medication supply in a health facility, or a project that monitors the growth of trees over a certain period of time, are certain areas where Entities play a huge role. Data is continually updated with new information over time and this ensures longevity and follow-up of the project to success. 

Entities allow users to share information between forms, enabling the collection of longitudinal data, management of cases over time, and support for other complex workflows in Ona. They can represent physical things, such as towns or plants, and abstract things, like household visits or facility follow-ups.

The diagram below shows how Entities are created and used in other forms:

Entities allow you to:

1. Automatically create an Entity List with a registration form. For example, an Entity list can have entities such as the name of a town, the province it is located in and the number of relief food offices present.
2. Use multiple registration forms that are different but target the same Entity List. For example, a form for college registration vs. a student coursework registration form.
3. Use Entities in one or more downstream forms within the same project.
4. Download Entities as a CSV file.

How to Use Entities

Entities can be used in many ways across different sectors. Imagine you are a district officer in your community responsible for mapping all water points and ensuring their functionality. We want to register the water points and then, follow up and monitor their functionality in the community. For more information on Entities, see our documentation. 

1. Navigate to an Ona Data project in your account and upload the water points registration form. The water point registration form captures key information about the water points, such as the water point location, working status, and water capacity.  
2. The Entity List water_points is created automatically within the same project.
3. In the same project, upload the Water points functionality follow-up form. The waterpoint functionality follow-up form captures information about the waterpoint’s functionality, water capacity, and quality over time through regular visits. The Ministry of Water or the organization responsible for the water points can monitor the water points and ensure the water points are beneficial to the surrounding communities.
4. When you navigate to the follow-up form’s Settings page, under the Form Media files, the dataset water_points, created in Step 2, appears. No file needs to be attached or linked. 

5. Once the registration form and the follow-up form are uploaded, your forms should be listed as shown in the below image. 

6. Before you go to the field to collect data, make sure to download the form for offline use.
7. During a field visit, you encounter a new water point. Load the registration form using Enketo webforms and fill in some records. Fill in the waterpoint’s information and submit the form.

8. Before going to the field for a follow-up visit, make sure you re-download your form to have the most up-to-date form and entity list/dataset.
9. In a follow-up visit to the same community later, you find the same waterpoint that was registered in step 8, and you want to check its functionality while visiting the community.
   • Load the water point follow-up form. You will notice a list of answer choices, these are the Entities saved to the Entity List from the registration form’s submissions. 

• Select the water point, answer the follow-up questions about its functionality, water capacity and quality, and submit the form.

After field visits, you can take the information collected to others to show the functionality of the water points across your district and if they are serving their intended purpose. This data can be helpful in making strategic decisions to determine whether a new water point needs to be constructed in a certain area, repairs are needed in a particular water point or further action is required.

Entities allow you to make the right decisions and have better visibility of how a project is running. Since an Entity List can be used in multiple forms within the same project, it gives a user data freedom to apply the same entities in forms capturing other information related to that Entity List. 

Join the Conversation

We’re excited to hear how Entities are transforming your work! Share your stories, tips, and feedback with us on social media using the hashtag #OnaDataEntities.  Stay tuned for more updates and enhancements.