A Review of mHealth in Resource Poor Countries - A Pilot Plan for an mHealth Breastfeeding Intervention in Rural Uganda

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  • March 18, 2020
Creator
  • Kavuma, Edna
    • Affiliation: Gillings School of Global Public Health, Public Health Leadership Program
Abstract
  • Technological advancements have led to increased connectivity across the globe. In eHealth, information technology is applied in healthcare to improve care and interoperability of data in the healthcare industry. mHealth is an extension of this advancement involving mobile phones. Given the exponential growth in the use of cellular phones all over the world, mHealth has the potential to positively influence health service delivery, sharing and disbursement of health information as well as health data collection. In resource poor countries, mHealth has the capacity to bridge the gap between health care worker and patient, by creating opportunities for direct communication via text message or voice communication where it did not exist before. This paper explores the importance of mHealth and summarizes findings from an in-depth literature review of maternal and child health mHealth case studies conducted in resource poor settings. Maternal and child health mHealth programming is studied to establish the association with breastfeeding as a behavior that could be influenced through an mHealth project. Based on this literature review, an mHealth breastfeeding pilot project is proposed for implementation in rural Uganda. The recommendations include integrating a breastfeeding focused mHealth pilot within the existing health infrastructure as well as a preliminary community resource assessment to establish baseline need in the select community. Uganda’s current health care infrastructure is described as well as the challenges and cost considerations for a potential mHealth breastfeeding pilot project. Although, increasing breastfeeding for children of six years of age was the original purpose of this paper, the literature review and evidence from Uganda’s existing mHealth capabilities highlight that a broader systematic approach is needed. Breastfeeding can certainly be a focus on any mHealth campaign in Uganda, the challenge however is being able to provide adequate and sufficient care and resources to mothers and children, whose health issues are beyond breastfeeding. Similar conclusions may also be applicable to other resource poor settings and eHealth studies should focus on how a breastfeeding campaign can be embedded within a broader post-natal maternal and child mHealth program.
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  • In Copyright
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  • Paper type: Other
  • Track: Leadership
Advisor
  • Sollecito, William
Reviewer
  • Rajgopal, Rhadika
Degree
  • Master of Public Health
Degree granting institution
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Graduation year
  • 2016
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  • f03076e7-5b1a-42ba-a4d3-a17b0b2ba47e

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