Thank you for downloading this publication. Please let us know why you chose this publication:
Why are you interested in this publication?
What organisation do you represent?
You will only need to complete this form once per browser/device
How do you prefer to read or receive publications?

We may contact you for feedback on the publication you have downloaded. If you do not want to be contacted, please leave the email field blank. Your information will never be shared with any third party.

Malaria Consortium US Donate
  • About us
    • Who we are
    • Our Strategy
    • Governance
    • Aid transparency
  • Projects
  • Where We Work
  • What we do
    • Diseases
    • Our responses
    • Burden reduction to elimination
    • Data-informed decision-making & digital approaches
    • Health sector resilience
    • Research & policy change
    • Networks & partnerships
  • News & Resources
    • News
    • Blog
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • Photo stories
  • Publications
    • Interactive publications
  • Support us
  • Contact Us
    • Newsletter
  • Work with us
    • Tenders
  • Home
  • »
  • Publications
  • »
  • Mobile health (mHealth) approaches and lessons for increased performance and retention of community health workers in low-and middle-income countries: A review

Share this page

Resources

Latest

Publications

Publication Date:
09/09/2013

Type:
Journal article
Publication

Mobile health (mHealth) approaches and lessons for increased performance and retention of community health workers in low-and middle-income countries: A review
Author(s): Karin Kallander, James K Tibenderana, Onome J Akpogheneta, Daniel L Strachan, Zelee Hill, Augustinus H A ten Asbroek, Lesong Conteh, Betty R Kirkwood, Sylvia R Meek

Publication Date:
09/09/2013
Type:
Journal article

Background

Mobile health (mHealth) describes the use of portable electronic devices with software applications to provide health services and manage patient information. With approximately five billion mobile phone users globally, opportunities for mobile technologies to play a formal role in health services, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, are increasingly being recognised. mHealth can also support the performance of health care workers by the dissemination of clinical updates, learning materials, and reminders, particularly in underserved rural locations in low- and middle-income countries where community health workers deliver integrated community case management to children sick with diarrhea, pneumonia, and malaria.

Objective 

Our aim was to conduct a thematic review of how mHealth projects have approached the intersection of cellular technology and public health in low- and middle-income countries and identify the promising practices and experiences learned, as well as novel and innovative approaches of how mHealth can support community health workers.

Methods

In this review, six themes of mHealth initiatives were examined using information from peer-reviewed journals, websites, and key reports. Primary mHealth technologies reviewed included mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and smartphones, patient monitoring devices, and mobile telemedicine devices. We examined how these tools could be used for education and awareness, data access, and for strengthening health information systems. We also considered how mHealth may support patient monitoring, clinical decision making, and tracking of drugs and supplies. Lessons from mHealth trials and studies were summarized, focusing on low- and middle-income countries and community health workers.

Results

The review revealed that there are very few formal outcome evaluations of mHealth in low-income countries. Although there is vast documentation of project process evaluations, there are few studies demonstrating an impact on clinical outcomes. There is also a lack of mHealth applications and services operating at scale in low- and middle-income countries. The most commonly documented use of mHealth was 1-way text-message and phone reminders to encourage follow-up appointments, healthy behaviors, and data gathering. Innovative mHealth applications for community health workers include the use of mobile phones as job aides, clinical decision support tools, and for data submission and instant feedback on performance.

Conclusions

With partnerships forming between governments, technologists, non-governmental organizations, academia, and industry, there is great potential to improve health services delivery by using mHealth in low- and middle-income countries. As with many other health improvement projects, a key challenge is moving mHealth approaches from pilot projects to national scalable programs while properly engaging health workers and communities in the process. By harnessing the increasing presence of mobile phones among diverse populations, there is promising evidence to suggest that mHealth can be used to deliver increased and enhanced health care services to individuals and communities, while helping to strengthen health systems.

Published in Journal of Medical Internet Research 

Click here to download

Keywords: Community delivery | Digital health | iCCM | SDG3

 

 

« Back to Publications

Sign up for our newsletter here:

Follow us on our social channels
  • Jobs
  • Contact us
  • Annual reviews
  • Support us
  • About us
  • Sitemap
  • Policies
  • Modern Slavery Statement
Fundraising Regulator logo
© 2023 Malaria Consortium | Charity No. 1099776 | Company No. 4785712