Information Technologies

The purpose of thsi research project is to establish the factors influencing use of telemedicine in Africa: a case of School of Medicine, University of Nairobi.

This study deployed a cross-sectional structured questionnaire to determine ICT knowledge and utilization among healthcare providers at National Hospital Abuja. [from abstract]

Presented at the GETHealth Summit in Dublin, Ireland (November 13–14, 2014), this poster describes work to develop a new data exchange standard, Care Services Discovery. This technology is open and collaborative, available for support by a wide variety of technologies, including iHRIS, DHIS 2, and UNICEF’s RapidPro platform. Open source technologies and open standards approaches make a formidable combination to address information needs. [from introduction]

Electronic medical record systems are being implemented in many countries to support healthcare services. However, its adoption rate remains low, especially in developing countries due to technological, financial, and organizational factors. There is lack of solid evidence and empirical research regarding the pre implementation readiness of healthcare providers. The aim of this study is to assess health professionals?

Social media sites – like Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, FourSquare and Twitter – summon a tapestry of friendship, humour and community between digitally literate citizens around the world. But the role and value of these platforms and portals for education, teaching and learning is neither self-evident nor obvious. Therefore, this article returns to a key early text in the sociology of education: Paul Willis’s Learning to Labour. Willis addressed the injustices within and beyond school. [from abstract]

The use of social media is a very important avenue for reaching MSM who are not reached by peer educators in Ghana. The method should be adopted as an integral outreach approach for HIV-prevention interventions in the future.[from abstract]

The Pan-American Social Marketing Organization (PASMO) developed a combination prevention intervention in Central America that delivers HIV prevention behavior change communication (BCC) messages, products, services, and referrals to promote improved condom and condom-compatible lubricant use, HIV testing, violence reporting and the use of complementary services. [from abstract]

To celebrate Universal Children’s Day 2013, this report was commissioned by Sesame Workshop to achieve two objectives: (1) to explore current and future opportunities in the use of mobile phones and other relevant information and communications technologies (ICTs) for improving the health and development of young children as investments for a better future, and (2) to provide guidance and recommendations for partnerships, institutions or organizations interested in contributing to this field. [from executive summary]

Health technology assessment (HTA) is mostly used in the context of high- and middle-income countries. Many “resource-poor” settings, which have the greatest need for critical assessment of health technology, have a limited basis for making evidence-based choices. This can lead to inappropriate use of technologies, a problem that could be addressed by HTA that enables the efficient use of resources, which is especially crucial in such settings. There is a lack of clarity about which HTA tools should be used in these settings.

This paper discusses the development of Story-Call, a pilot e-mobile multimedia App, or application, for community-based dementia caregiver support, designed to offer reassurance, information and services to caregivers, and facilitate supportive efforts and implementation of other interventions by nurses and therapists. [from abstract]

The aim here is to explore the extent to which further investment in technology could play a role in the development of an effective and affordable health sector strategy for at least some developing economies. It is suggested that the effectiveness of the approach may be highly dependent on the specific health conditions addressed, the nature of existing health systems and the overall socio-economic and cultural context. [from abstract]

This study investigated whether increased numbers of primary healthcare clinical consultations in Indigenous communities in some remote areas of Australia are associated with the reduced need for urgent medical evacuations and remote telephone consultations. [from abstract]

Our analysis focused mainly on the Choose and Book system for outpatient referrals, introduced in 2004, which remained unpopular and little used throughout the period of our research (i.e. 2007–13). We identified four foci of resistance: to the policy of choice that Choose and Book symbolised and purported to deliver; to accommodating the technology’s sociomaterial constraints; to interference with doctors’ contextual judgements; and to adjusting to the altered social relations consequent on its use.

The Greentree Consensus represents a concerted effort by donors to capture the most important lessons learned by the development community in the implementation of information and communications technology for development (ICT4D) projects. [from resource]

This e-book is a reference guide for countries wanting to link their universal health coverage and eHealth information systems using a standards-based approach. It provides a set of actionable steps and links to resources to develop a national eHealth standards framework. [adapted from resource]

This toolkit provides information about currently available mobile messaging technology solutions, as well as things to consider when selecting a vendor and deploying an mHealth campaign. It was designed for project implementers using mobile messaging campaigns to encourage healthy behaviors in low- and middle-income countries. [adapted from resource]

This chapter reviews progress made by the health sector in implementing the eHealth Strategy 2012–2016, which was approved by the Ministry of Health and published in July 2012. The finalisation of this Strategy following
several attempts, and its placement in the public domain, created optimism that a clear vision for improving health information systems in South Africa had been successfully articulated. [from introduction]

Hypertension and diabetes have become a major public health challenge in India. This research work aims to develop a feasible and scalable intervention for hypertension and diabetes, tailored to primary care settings in India. [from abstract]

Jeffrey Sachs, the Director of the Earth Institute, has suggested that ‘Mobile phones and wireless internet end isolation, and will therefore prove to be the most transformative technology of economic development of our time’. The mHealth community believes that this extends to healthcare. This review aims to summarise and assess the evidence of impacts that mobile technologies have had on improving health in countries categorised by the World Bank as low- and middle-income (LMICs), through mHealth (mobile health) interventions. [from abstract]

The general objective of the study was to assess the effect of integrating mobile communication strategies, as part of existing health service packages, on maternal and newborn health (MNH) service utilization in one health district, Bombali, in Sierra Leone. [from executive summary]

These Standard Operating Procedures aim to clarify the responsibilities and procedures for effective management of aggregated routine health services. These SOPs for provinces present basic and practical steps to be followed by
provincial health information management personnel, programme/line managers and clinic supervisors at provincial level to ensure that data is appropriately handled and used to improve service delivery at local level, prior
to submission to next level of the health system, within the specified time frames.

These Standard Operating Procedures aim to clarify the responsibilities and procedures for effective management of aggregated routine health services. These SOPs for the National DoH present basic and practical steps to be
followed by national health information management personnel, programme/line managers and clinic supervisors at national level to ensure that data is appropriately handled and used to improve service delivery at local level, prior
to submission to next level of the health system, within the specified time frames.

We explore the current status of this area in the research community. E-health gives us an introduction to why we are trying to introduce information and communication technology’s (ICT’s) in order to improve health care. [adapted from abstract]

Bangladesh is facing a lot of challenges in quality healthcare management. The recent advances in information and communication technologies (ICT) could play vital role in improving healthcare services and reaching them to the doorstep of the marginalized people. This research aims to evaluate the present health status of the country and explores the applicability of e-Health as well as the challenges and issues of electronic healthcare development. This study has conducted a survey on patient’s views and expectations toward e-Health for quality healthcare management.

The last decade has witnessed massive growth in the African economy, accompanied by an unprecedented uptake of novel communications technologies across the five sub-regions. At the same time, the burden of various diseases – both communicable and non-communicable – is also escalating. Thus, the objective of this research was to analyze and highlight uncommon applications of novel technologies toward healthcare delivery in Africa. [from abstract]

India faces critical human resources shortages for key cadres such as doctors, specialists, nurses, and midwives. Other key challenges include suboptimal deployment of staff exacerbated by a skewed urban-rural distribution, gaps in certain specialties, and inefficient use of staff due to poor rationalization of tasks. Lack of comprehensive, reliable, and up-to-date data and an absence of commonly agreed definitions and analytical tools make the task of managing the health workforce more difficult.

As countries strive toward universal health coverage, mobile wireless technologies—mHealth tools—in support of enumeration, registration, unique identification, and maintenance of health records will facilitate improved health system performance. Electronic forms and registry systems will enable routine monitoring of the coverage of essential interventions for individuals within relevant target populations. A cascading model is presented for prioritizing and operationalizing the role of integrated mHealth strategies.

There is an evolving need for better utilization of ICT resources which are direct, cost effective, time-saving, and highly persuasive in pursuit of quality healthcare delivery. Therefore this research proposes a ten-layer ICT model converging advanced Mobile and Internet interventions, to disseminate health messages for patients suffering from fatal diseases. Using breast cancer as an instance, a communication strategy is exemplified using the ten-layer model.

This paper presents the results of two field experiments on local accountability in primary health care in Uganda. Efforts to stimulate beneficiary control, coupled with the provision of report cards on staff performance, resulted in significant improvements in health care delivery and health outcomes in both the short and the longer run. Efforts to stimulate beneficiary control without providing information on performance had no impact on quality of care or health outcomes.

The study concludes that to address these gender gaps in ICTs in Nigeria, all hands must be on deck to change women’s attitudes towards ICT use by overcoming technophobia;women should be provided with educational and economic empowerment; government ICT policies and programs must address the needs of women;and the civil society should be part and parcel of this crusade for the betterment of women and the society at large. [from abstract]