Mobile instant messaging: New knowledge tools in global health?

Abstract

Despite the proliferation of Mobile Instant Messaging (MIM) platforms, such as WhatsApp, studies that examine their role for learning and knowledge sharing are still rare. Using the context of global health, this study seeks to examine the ways in which MIM platforms are being used for learning and knowledge sharing and identify associated potentials and constraints. A survey with open- and closed-ended questions was administered and the experience of 40 respondents from 44 different project settings was gathered and analyzed. The findings indicate that MIM, and particularly WhatsApp, are used in a boundary-crossing manner, i.e., involving various groups of health professionals, students, and patients from across a range of low-income countries, particularly from Sub-Saharan Africa. MIM platforms are used in informal learning settings for knowledge creation and sharing, supervision, enacting social presence and collaborative problem solving, and for the support of formal education. In addition to enhancing communication efficiency and responsiveness, MIM was also used to bridge geographical (e.g., central-local and urban-rural) and social divides (e.g., professional rankings). Despite technical and socio-behavioral constraints, the use of MIM was reported to significantly benefit distributed global health work and to enhance learning and knowledge sharing in “distributed” networks of practice.

Mobile-Social Learning for Continuing Professional Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Integrative Review

“…A total of 31 articles were selected for inclusion ( Figure 2 ). Among the included articles, sub-Saharan Africa (28/31, 90%) was the most represented geographical region [ 1 , 8 , 15 - 17 , 30 - 52 ]. Countries in Southeast Asia were represented in 10% (3/31) of the studies [ 45 , 53 , 54 ], and 3% (1/31) of the studies included participants across Africa, Asia, and South America [ 1 ].…”

“…A wide array of health care cadres was targeted across the studies, including nurses, physicians, midwives, community health workers, public health specialists, hospital administrators, and health officers. In addition, several studies (7/31, 23%) included preprofessional clinical trainees (eg, nursing and medical students) [ 32 - 34 , 37 , 50 - 52 ]. Of the 31 studies, 9 (29%) were qualitative in design and were conducted using descriptive thematic analysis, in-depth interviews, or focus groups [ 8 , 15 , 30 , 32 , 34 , 36 , 40 , 41 , 50 ].…”

“…A total of 39% (12/31) of the studies [ 1 , 16 , 31 , 33 , 35 , 37 , 45 - 48 , 51 , 54 ] were quantitative, with most quantitative studies (10/12, 83%) having observational cross-sectional designs. Of the 31 studies, 10 (32%) used both quantitative and qualitative data collection [ 17 , 38 , 39 , 42 - 44 , 49 , 52 , 53 , 55 ] ( Multimedia Appendix 2 [ 1 , 8 , 15 - 17 , 29 - 54 ]).…”

“…There was diversity in the clinical topics that were represented among the continuing education interventions. Nearly half (14/31, 45%) of the interventions focused on clinical topics pertaining to sexual and reproductive health (ie, maternal health, basic emergency obstetric and newborn care, HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment, treatment of sexually transmitted infections, cervical cancer screening, and family planning) [ 1 , 8 , 16 , 17 , 30 , 31 , 40 - 42 , 47 , 48 , 52 , 54 , 55 ]. Additional clinical topics included primary care, general nursing practice and skills, research, malnutrition, anesthesia, pediatric hematology-oncology, integrated management of childhood illnesses, nephrology, and orthopedics ( Multimedia Appendix 3 [ 1 , 8 , 15 - 17 , 29 - 54 ]).…”

“…Most articles (25/31, 81%) used texting, mobile instant messaging, or SMS text messaging to provide continuing education content either as a stand-alone intervention or in addition to other digital learning tools and blended learning formats (eg, coupling SMS text messaging with traditional face-to-face learning) [ 8 , 15 - 17 , 30 - 38 , 40 , 41 , 43 , 45 , 46 , 48 - 52 , 55 , 56 ]. WhatsApp was the most commonly used platform among the studies that used messaging services (17/31, 55%) [ 8 , 15 , 30 - 34 , 36 , 37 , 43 , 46 , 48 , 50 - 52 , 55 , 56 ]. Telephone calls were included in 16% (5/31) of the studies and were primarily used between students and mentors to discuss and reinforce learning content and for students to obtain feedback from mentors [ 16 , 41 , 45 , 46 , 53 ].…”