Editorial: Digital interventions and serious mobile games for health in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs (original) (raw)
Mobile Health, Developing Countries
The International Encyclopedia of Health Communication., 2023
Mobile health (mHealth, m-health) technologies are poised to transform healthcare service delivery and self-care in low-resource environments of developing countries. Originally conceived of as a range of mobile, sensor, and wireless technologies for healthcare delivery, these technologies improved information exchange and communication services in countries encumbered by limited medical infrastructure, shortage of trained personnel, and high incidence of communicable diseases. In the introductory period, limitations to telecommunication access for the general population meant that mHealth interventions were primarily implemented by the formal healthcare system as an organizational-level solution. In developing countries, mobile devices and Internet-enabled systems enable the transfer of high-quality medical information and resources between areas with differential healthcare resources. Typically, mobile phone-based communications enable frontline healthcare workers in remote areas to reach health professionals in urban areas, allowing for coordination amongst widely dispersed medical personnel, training for community healthcare workers, remote monitoring of programs, and dissemination of information to the community (Agarwal et al., 2015). However, the unprecedented growth and ubiquitous spread of mobile phone accessibility to most of the global population, accompanied by increased affordability, has addressed concerns related to the digital divide. By the end of the second decade of the millennium, mobile networks cover almost the entire global population, with 93% being able to access mobile broadband networks. The organic adoption of mobile devices and solutions by individuals has led to mHealth increasingly being viewed in terms of its potential as a consumer-level health management tool. The notion is that by using mHealth technologies, such as texts, apps, and wearables, people can conveniently collect, analyze, and share their own health information.
Health Education Journal, 2019
Objective: mHealth interventions often favour individual-level effects. This is particularly problematic in contexts where social support and shifts in social norms are critical to sustained behaviour change. Mobile digital games represent a promising health education strategy for youth, including in low-resource settings. We sought to better understand the interpersonal and social interactions that can be elicited by digital games for health. Design: We piloted Tumaini, a smartphone game rooted in interactive narrative designed to prevent HIV among young Africans (aged 11–14), in a randomised controlled feasibility study and analysed reports of the household dynamics surrounding gameplay. Following a 16-day intervention period, phone gameplay log files were downloaded, and intervention arm participants ( n = 30) completed a gameplay experience survey; eight focus group discussions were held, four with intervention arm participants ( n = 27) and four with their parents ( n = 22). Se...
2019
Mobile health (mHealth), or the use of mobile technology to improve health, is a rapidly expanding field. There have been a number of intervention studies based on mobile apps and most of these focused on specific medical issues. A majority of the available health apps are for health and wellness promotion and disease prevention for the general public. But the pace of traditional academic research is slow and less nimble relative to commercial app development resulting in huge lags in dissemination into commercial settings for public health. This paper assessed the content, usability and efficacy of the commercially launched digital healthcare platform developed by CMED Health for the purpose of preventing major noncommunicable diseases in the rural communities of Bangladesh. A combining approach of quantitative, qualitative and participant observation were used in this study following the principles and process of Action Research methodology. The study evaluated the CMED health app...
Mobile Health (mHealth) in the Developing World: Two Decades of Progress or Retrogression
Journal of the International Society for Telemedicine and eHealth
Mobile healthcare, or mHealth, is one of the key pillars of information and communication technologies for healthcare that consists of telemedicine, telehealth, eHealth, and mHealth. In the past two decades, mobile health has become a transformative concept for healthcare delivery innovations on a global scale. The success was based on the market-driven strategies that utilised the advances in mobile communications, computing, and sensor technologies, especially in recent years. Those market-driven mobile health systems were also closely associated with the global proliferation of smartphones, and based on the correlated usage principle of the smartphone applications for healthcare and wellbeing. However, the global commercial success of the smartphone-based mHealth model was not widely translated into successful scaled-up and tangible healthcare benefits, especially in low- and-middle income countries, compared to the consumer mobile health markets. The numerous healthcare challeng...
IMIA Yearbook, 2014
Summary Objectives: Evolving technology and infrastructure can benefit patients even in the poorest countries through mobile health (mHealth). Yet, what makes mobile-phone-based services succeed in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) and what opportunities does the future hold that still need to be studied. We showcase demonstrator services that leverage mobile phones in the hands of patients to promote health and facilitate health care. Methods: We surveyed the recent biomedical literature for demonstrator services that illustrate well-considered examples of mobile phone interventions for consumer health. We draw upon those examples to discuss enabling factors, scalability, reach, and potential of mHealth as well as obstacles in LMIC. Results: Among the 227 articles returned by a PubMed search, we identified 55 articles that describe services targeting health consumers equipped with mobile phones. From those articles, we showcase 19 as demonstrator services across clinical care,...
2014
The use of wireless, mobile, and handheld digital devices is growing in every sector, including education and health. The increase in mobile (handheld) phone usage has gradually drawn most healthcare practitioners' and patients' attention to its capability as a promoter of health education. It has helped with reduction in social and economic impact of preventive and curative and unexplained non-curable illnesses, especially among rural communities in sub-Saharan African countries such as Ghana. Activity theory-an object-driven activity-was employed as the conceptual framework to answer the following research questions: What views do people have about information that relates to their health? What are the existing media used for obtaining information related to their health? What are the types of health-related activities that people perform on and with their mobile phones? What are the factors that influence employing a mobile phone in activities related to their health? And, what are some of the impacts of employing the device for activities related to their health in remote and isolated communities in sub-Saharan Africa? To help find responses to these questions, the study utilizes sequential mixed-methods approaches to sample 92 participants' views about the role and potential of mobile phones to promote health literacy and access to information about health in order to improve the healthcare delivery system among people living in rural communities. Findings from the study show that health-related activities performed on and with mobile phones include: (i) inquiring about health concerns from friends, family, or healthcare personnel; (ii) practising teleconsultation, and telehealth with health helplines that address specific health issues such as pregnancy and cholera outbreak; (iii) clarifying any health symptom before travelling to healthcare centres; and (iv) scrutinizing counterfeit medications entering the country. Implementation of mobile phones in mobile health (mHealth) is revealed to be influenced by demographic and socioeconomic status, as well as cultural practices and traditional beliefs in accessing and seeking medical assistance. Findings from this research add to literature on ways of addressing health inequities in remote communities through conducting capacity-building projects. Also, the findings contribute to educators' understanding in identifying various forms of learning, seeking information, and pedagogies for which activity theory is particularly appropriate. Further, the results assist development agencies and policy-makers' understanding on ways of promoting adult education and means of addressing issues related to patients' privacy and confidentiality.
Mobile health interventions in developing countries: A systematic review
Health Informatics Journal, 2020
This study reviews the quality of evidence reported in mobile health intervention literature in the context of developing countries. A systematic search of renowned databases was conducted to find studies related to mobile health applications published between a period of 2013 and 2018. After a methodological screening, a total of 31 studies were included for data extraction and synthesis. The mobile health Evidence Reporting and Assessment checklist developed by the World Health Organization was then used to evaluate the rigor and completeness in evidence reporting. We report several important and interesting findings. First, there is a very low level of familiarity with the mobile health Evidence Reporting and Assessment checklist among the researchers and mobile health intervention designers from developing countries. Second, most studies do not adequately meet the essential criteria of evidence reporting mentioned in the mobile health Evidence Reporting and Assessment checklist....
The Space of Digital Health Games
Digital health games run increasingly on mobile devices in order to stimulate and maintain health related behavior change. Yet, they interact with their topographic, social and cultural context in various ways and to specific degrees. In this article we discuss theories on locative media, urban as well as pervasive game design and set them in relation to current health game practice. Two approaches in “mobile persuasion” are contrasted: While some research emphasizes the transfer of newly learned behavior by providing a seamless experience, others focus on the collision between game rhetoric and “real world” context. Between the two, we argue, a “Situationist” approach may highlight interaction with everyday objects and environments as key to behavior change. We construct a new typology of game locations and give an overview into what we call “locative health games”. Gaining a deeper insight to the role of space in digital health games, we claim, helps to address wider cultural impl...
JMIR Research Protocols, 2021
Background Traditionally, health promotion and health education have been provided to communities in the global south in the form of leaflets or orally by health care workers. Digital health interventions (DHIs) such as digital health messages accessed by smartphones have the potential to reach more people at a lower cost and to contribute to strengthening of health care systems. The DHI in this study focuses on disseminating digital health education regarding 3 disease complexes of high public health concern: HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and Taenia solium (neuro)cysticercosis or taeniasis, a parasitic zoonotic disease that requires a One Health approach. The DHI presents the participants with animated health videos (animations) and provides access to information spots (InfoSpots) with a free-of-charge digital health platform containing messages about health to rural Tanzanian communities. Objective The objective of this study is to measure the effect of the DHI on health knowledge uptak...
National Journal of Community Medicine, 2025
"Introduction: The global health policy's main goal is to reduce the under-five mortality rate (U5MR), especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where children still die of various ailments. Mobile-Based Health (mHealth) methods may help improve health information and access to maternity and childcare services. This systematic review was aimed to evaluate the efficacy of m-Health in enhancing the health of children under five in LIMICs. Methodology: A search strategy was carried out in the databases like PubMed, CINAHL, SCOPUS, Science Direct, PsycINFO including some grey literature with a focus on the studies published in English 2013 to 2024 were only included. From a total of 518 studies identified, twenty-two satisfied the criteria for inclusion after a selection process. Results: The results emphasized the impact of m-Health in improving immunization rates, supporting breast-feeding, child growth monitoring, and health-seeking behaviours of the mothers. Text messaging, in particular, has been identified as a cost-effective and widely adopted mobile health approach for behaviour change, adherence to medical recommendations, and promoting healthcare service utilization. Conclusion: The findings underscore the potential of digital health to bridge gaps in healthcare service delivery in resource-limited contexts, addressing critical shortages in human resources and infrastructure."