Information Technologies

This paper gives an overview of the approaches, methods and materials used in a mobile-based educational platform designed to enable health care workers involved in HIV/AIDS care in urban peripheral stations in Peru to access the state-of-the-art in HIV treatment and care. [adapted from introduction]

This paper presents eLearning as a solution for strengthening human resources for health as well as organizational capacity of regional and local nongovernmental organizations in developing countries. [from abstract]

In a district hospital in conflict-torn Somalia, the authors assessed the impact of introducing telemedicine on the quality of paediatric care, and the added value as perceived by local clinicians. [from abstract]

The overall objective of this study was to conduct a prospective, randomized controlled trial to evaluate the feasibility, implementation, and effectiveness of internet based training in cognitive behavioral therapy techniques for mental health providers, including a standardized telephone-delivered supervision method. [from author]

The goal of this assessment was to evaluate the routine health Information system in Taraba state to identify the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities of the health management information system unit in the state and its local government areas with a view to identifying risks that pose a threat to the implementation of software upgrades. [adapted from publisher]

The goal of this assessment was to evaluate the routine health Information system in Imo state to identify the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities of the health management information system unit in the state and its local government areas with a view to identifying risks that pose a threat to the implementation of software upgrades. [adapted from publisher]

The goal of this assessment was to evaluate the routine health Information system in Oyo state to identify the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities of the health management information system unit in the state and its local government areas with a view to identifying risks that pose a threat to the implementation of software upgrades. [adapted from publisher]

The goal of this assessment was to evaluate the routine health Information system in Niger state to identify the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities of the health management information system unit in the state and its local government areas with a view to identifying risks that pose a threat to the implementation of software upgrades. [adapted from publisher]

The goal of this assessment was to evaluate the routine health Information system in Delta state to identify the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities of the health management information system unit in the state and its local government areas with a view to identifying risks that pose a threat to the implementation of software upgrades. [adapted from publisher]

The goal of this assessment was to evaluate the routine health Information system in Kebbi state to identify the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities of the health management information system unit in the state and its local government areas with a view to identifying risks that pose a threat to the implementation of software upgrades. [adapted from publisher]

This extensive report gathered evidence and research to see if technology could be harnessed in transformative ways to address critical gaps in community health worker (CHW) training in Sub-Saharan Africa. It covers: the importance of CHW, current approaches to CHW training, emerging evidence and opportunities. [adapted from author]

This analysis summarizes the effect of Internet-based instruction for health professions learners compared with no intervention and with non-Internet interventions. [from abstract]

This brief outlines a comprehensive human resources information system to support management functions in the public health sector that is being implemented by the Ministries of Health in Kenya. [adapted from author]

This free online course provides instructions on basic skills needed to administer and customize IntraHealth International’s free human resources information system software: iHRIS Manage or iHRIS Qualify systems. [from publisher]

Internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy for depression has been proven effective when guided by a clinician, less so if unguided. This study sought to determine if guidance from a technician would be as effective as guidance from a clinician to increase the capacity of existing mental health services. [adapted from abstract]

In this study, qualitative analysis of learner feedback gathered from an online medical education curriculum was used to identify themes of learner feedback, and changes to the online curriculum in response to this feedback were tracked. Learner satisfaction and knowledge gains were then compared from before and after implementation of learner feedback. [from abstract]

This paper presents the results of a qualitative study to investigate the perceptions and experiences of health workers involved in a a cluster-randomized controlled trial of a novel intervention to improve health worker malaria case management in 107 government health facilities in Kenya. The intervention involved sending text-messages about paediatric outpatient malaria case-management accompanied by motivating quotes to health workers’ mobile phones. [from abstract]

In rural India, frontline health workers—called accredited social health activists (or ASHAs)—are improving the health of women and families in their own communities by offering key preventive health services. Through the Manthan Project, IntraHealth International is testing a promising multi-media mobile phone application called mSakhi as a tool to make ASHAs’ jobs both easier and more effective. [from author]

The objectives of this review were to highlight gaps in knowledge of the benefits of e-health and identify areas of potentially useful future research on e-health. The evidence collected focuses on the impact of e-health on systems facilitating clinical practice, institutional systems, and systems facilitating care at a distance. [adapted from author]

This research attempted to test the hypothesis that health information systems data quality and data use are interrelated: poor quality data will not be used, and because they are not used, the data will remain of poor quality; conversely, greater use of data will help to improve their quality, which will in turn lead to more data use. [from introduction]

This paper describes the development of a large, public telehealth system that supports primary care professionals in remote regions of the Brazilian as part of a government strategy to provide universal access to high-quality health care. Combining assistance and in-service education with simple and inexpensive technology, the telehealth model has been shown to be effective, technically feasible and economically viable. [adapted from publisher]

This compendium of health information technology (HIT) seeks to inform the implementation of HIT to facilitate continuous quality improvement of antiretroviral therapy programs and improved patient outcomes in low and middle income countries. [from author]

In response the lack of sufficient human resources for health and the skewed geographic availability of medical personnel, the Apollo Hospital Group adopted telemedicine as the most effective way to accellerate the bridging of the demand supply gap without physically shifting resources. This case study examines the network and its processes. [adapted from author]

By analysing health programmes in low- and middle-income countries that engage the private sector, this paper fills gaps in the e-health literature and provides new insight into several central questions. It examines the geographic distribution of technology-enabled programmes, the key issues technology can address in the health sector, and the key challenges posed by the adoption and implementation of technology for health-related purposes. [from author]

This 8 minute video highlights one solution to the problem of doctor absenteeism being deployed in the Karnataka region in southern India. When patients arrive at a primary health clinic and the doctor is absent, they can use their phones to text a central location which will record this data to allow the government to track and citizens to see which clinics are chronically understaffed. [from publisher]

This article presents the finding of a study to assess the feasibility, acceptabilty and effectiveness of short online courses for mental health professionals and service users. [adapted from author]

This study sought to understand what the field of mHealth had to offer, to explore how mHealth is implemented in practice and to use these two sources of information to reflect on the lessons and implications for implementing mHealth at scale for monitoring and evaluation of community based services and community health workers. [adapted from summary]

Virtual worlds are increasingly being explored as a support for education. The aim of this work was to study the suitability of Second Life as an educational tool for primary healthcare professionals. [from abstract]

This overview outlines how the growing trend in online learning can open up new perspectives and opportunities for Africa’s health professionals. [adapted from author]

The objectives of this review were systematically assess national practices in HRIS implementation, identify main areas of weakness in HRIS implementation with attention to countries facing acute health workforce shortages, offer recommendations to ministries of health and global health policy makers on how to improve the science and application of human resources information and monitoring systems. [from author]