User experiences of a mobile phone-based health information and surveillance system (mHISS): A case of caregivers of children under-five in rural communities in Ghana

Abstract

Background The rapid advancement of mobile technology has fueled the use of mobile devices for health interventions and for improving healthcare provision in underserved communities. Despite the potential of mHealth being used as a health information and surveillance tool, its scale-up has been challenging and, in most cases, unable to advance beyond the pilot stage of implementation. The purpose of this study was to explore user experiences of a mobile phone-based interactive voice response (IVR) system among caregivers of children under-five in rural communities in the Asante Akim North District of Ghana. Methods The study adopted an exploratory design. A convenience sampling technique was used to recruit 35 participants who had used an IVR system for at least six months for the study. About 11 in-depth interviews and three focus group discussions were conducted among participants using a semi-structured interview guide. Thematic content analysis was utilized for the analysis of data in this study. Result The system was found to be acceptable, and the attitude of caregivers towards the system was also positive. The study discovered that the mobile phone-based Health Information and Surveillance System (mHISS) was useful for improving access to healthcare, communicating with health professionals, served as a decision support system, and improved caregivers’ awareness about self-management of childhood illnesses. Poor network quality, unstable electricity power supply, and dropped/cut calls served as significant barriers to using the mHISS system. Conclusion The mHISS system was generally acceptable and could help improve access to healthcare and identify children with severe health conditions during outbreaks of diseases.

Building on the strengths of the mobile renewal system to increase health insurance uptake in Ghana: A qualitative study focusing on potential add-ons

“…Like our ndings, existing research on mobile health interventions has shown that ease of use, technical assistance, user education, and awareness campaigns contribute to the adoption and usage of digital interventions [34,35,41,42]. This calls for a more user-centric approach to the development and implementation of the add-on(s) in Ghana and other countries considering implementing mobile-phone based technology in the healthcare system.…”

“…Our participants argued that involving key actors like the implementation agencies, policymakers, developers, and potential users and improving infrastructure may improve the relevance and of the add-ons as in recent studies [26, [32][33][34][35]. The identi cation of long-term funding as one of the main factors that could in uence the implementation of the add-ons in this study aligns with existing literature that has highlighted the challenges associated with implementing and maintaining digital health solutions due to inadequate funding [35,36]. This implies that collaboration between governments, international organizations, and the private sector is essential to support the implementation of effective mobile health interventions worldwide.…”

Leveraging interactive voice response technology to mitigate COVID-19 risk in refugee settlements in Uganda: Lessons learned implementing “Dial-COVID” a toll-free mobile phone symptom surveillance and information dissemination tool

“…IVR can be used as a standalone tool, or can be combined with other tools/methods to augment data collection and dissemination as was done by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh, where participants were screened using an IVR survey to identify those eligible to receive a call back with a specific needs assessment survey [ 23 , 24 , 35 ]. IVR has been shown to be acceptable and useful in qualitative studies and a mobile phone-based IVR health information and surveillance system in Ghana was demonstrated to support user healthcare decision-making and disease awareness [ 36 ]. IVR is being explored as a data collection tool to reach groups that are often missed using conventional techniques with promising initial results [ 37 ].…”