Browsing by Author "Kanter, Andrew S"
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- ItemCapitalizing on the characteristics of mHealth to evaluate its impact.(2012-05-02) Mechael, Patricia; Nemser, Bennett; Cosmaciuc, Roxana; Cole-Lewis, Heather; Ohemeng-Dapaah, Seth; Dusabe, Schadrack; Kaonga, Nadi Nina; Namakula, Patricia; Shemsanga, Muhadili; Burbach, Ryan; Kanter, Andrew SThe field of mHealth has made significant advances in a short period of time demanding a more thorough and scientific approach to understanding and evaluating its progress A recent review of mHealth literature identified two primary research needs in order for mHealth to strengthen health systems and promote healthy behaviors namely health outcomes and cost benefits Mechael et al 2010 In direct response to the gaps identified in mHealth research the aim of this paper is to present the study design and highlight key observations and next steps from an evaluation of the mHealth activities within the electronic health eHealth architecture implemented by the Millennium Villages Project MVP by leveraging data generated through mobile technology itself alongside complementary qualitative research and costing assessments The study funded by the International Development and Research Centre IDRC as part of the Open Architecture Standards and Information Systems research project OASIS II Sinha 2009 is being implemented on data generated by 14 MVP sites in 10 Sub Saharan African countries including more in depth research in Ghana Rwanda Tanzania and Uganda Specific components of the study include rigorous quantitative case control analyses and other epidemiological approaches such as survival analysis supplemented by in depth qualitative interviews spread out over 18 months as well as a costing study to assess the impact of mHealth on health outcomes service delivery and efficiency
- ItemHealth worker perceptions of integrating mobile phones into community case management of malaria in Saraya, Senegal.(2015-05-12) Blanas, Demetri A; Ndiaye, Youssoupha; MacFarlane, Matthew; Manga, Isaac; Siddiqui, Ammar; Velez, Olivia; Kanter, Andrew S; Nichols, Kim; Hennig, NilsBACKGROUND Although community case management of malaria increases access to life saving care in isolated settings it contends with many logistical challenges Mobile phone health information technology may present an opportunity to address a number of these barriers METHODS Using the wireless adaptation of the technology acceptance model this study assessed availability ease of use usefulness and job relevance of mobile phones by health workers in Saraya Senegal RESULTS This study conducted seven key informant interviews with government health workers and three focus groups and 76 surveys with lay health workers Principal findings included that mobile phones are already widely available and used and that participants valued using phones to address training stock management programme reporting and transportation challenges CONCLUSIONS By documenting widespread use of mobile phones and health worker perceptions of their most useful applications this paper provides a framework for their integration into the community case management of malaria programme in Saraya Senegal
- ItemMobile phones and social structures: an exploration of a closed user group in rural Ghana.(2013-11-15) Kaonga, Nadi Nina; Labrique, Alain; Mechael, Patricia; Akosah, Eric; Ohemeng-Dapaah, Seth; Baah, Joseph Sakyi; Kodie, Richmond; Kanter, Andrew S; Levine, OrinBACKGROUND In the Millennium Villages Project site of Bonsaaso Ghana the Health Team is using a mobile phone closed user group to place calls amongst one another at no cost METHODS In order to determine the utilization and acceptability of the closed user group amongst users social network analysis and qualitative methods were used Key informants were identified and interviewed The key informants also kept prospective call journals Billing statements and de identified call data from the closed user group were used to generate data for analyzing the social structure revealed by the network traffic RESULTS The majority of communication within the closed user group was personal and not for professional purposes The members of the CUG felt that the group improved their efficiency at work CONCLUSIONS The methods used present an interesting way to investigate the social structure surrounding communication via mobile phones In addition the benefits identified from the exploration of this closed user group make a case for supporting mobile phone closed user groups amongst professional groups
- ItemA usability study of a mobile health application for rural Ghanaian midwives.(2014-04-04) Velez, Olivia; Okyere, Portia Boakye; Kanter, Andrew S; Bakken, SuzanneINTRODUCTION Midwives in rural Ghana work at the frontline of the health care system where they have access to essential data about the patient population However current methods of data capture primarily pen and paper make the data neither accessible nor usable for monitoring patient care or program evaluation Electronic health eHealth systems present a potential mechanism for enhancing the roles of midwives by providing tools for collecting exchanging and viewing patient data as well as offering midwives the possibility for receiving information and decision support Introducing such technology in low resource settings has been challenging because of low levels of user acceptance software design that does not match the end user environment and or unforeseen challenges such as irregular power availability These challenges are often attributable to a lack of understanding by the software developers of the end users needs and work environment METHODS A mobile health mHealth application known as mClinic was designed to support midwife access to the Millennium Village Global Network an eHealth delivery platform that captures data for managing patient care as well as program evaluation and monitoring decision making and management We conducted a descriptive usability study composed of 3 phases to evaluate an mClinic prototype 1 hybrid lab live software evaluation of mClinic to identify usability issues 2 completion of a usability questionnaire and 3 interviews that included low fidelity prototyping of new functionality proposed by midwives RESULTS The heuristic evaluation identified usability problems related to 4 of 8 usability categories Analysis of usability questionnaire data indicated that the midwives perceived mClinic as useful but were more neutral about the ease of use Analysis of midwives reactions to low fidelity prototypes during the interview process supported the applicability of mClinic to midwives work and identified the need for additional functionality DISCUSSION User acceptance is essential for the success of any mHealth implementation Usability testing identified mClinic development flaws and needed software enhancements
- ItemUsing social networking to understand social networks: analysis of a mobile phone closed user group used by a Ghanaian health team.(2013-04-04) Kaonga, Nadi Nina; Labrique, Alain; Mechael, Patricia; Akosah, Eric; Ohemeng-Dapaah, Seth; Sakyi Baah, Joseph; Kodie, Richmond; Kanter, Andrew S; Levine, OrinBACKGROUND The network structure of an organization influences how well or poorly an organization communicates and manages its resources In the Millennium Villages Project site in Bonsaaso Ghana a mobile phone closed user group has been introduced for use by the Bonsaaso Millennium Villages Project Health Team and other key individuals No assessment on the benefits or barriers of the use of the closed user group had been carried out OBJECTIVE The purpose of this research was to make the case for the use of social network analysis methods to be applied in health systems research specifically related to mobile health METHODS This study used mobile phone voice records of conducted interviews with and reviewed call journals kept by a mobile phone closed user group consisting of the Bonsaaso Millennium Villages Project Health Team Social network analysis methodology complemented by a qualitative component was used Monthly voice data of the closed user group from Airtel Bharti Ghana were analyzed using UCINET and visual depictions of the network were created using NetDraw Interviews and call journals kept by informants were analyzed using NVivo RESULTS The methodology was successful in helping identify effective organizational structure Members of the Health Management Team were the more central players in the network rather than the Community Health Nurses who might have been expected to be central CONCLUSIONS Social network analysis methodology can be used to determine the most productive structure for an organization or team identify gaps in communication identify key actors with greatest influence and more In conclusion this methodology can be a useful analytical tool especially in the context of mobile health health services and operational and managerial research