Pimmer Christoph, Mbvundula Francis
J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2018;29(1):463-480. doi: 10.1353/hpu.2018.0031.
Health workers' use of counselling information on their mobile phones for health education is a central but little understood phenomenon in numerous mobile health (mHealth) projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. Drawing on empirical data from an interpretive case study in the setting of the Millennium Villages Project in rural Malawi, this research investigates the ways in which community health workers (CHWs) perceive that audio-counselling messages support their health education practice. Three main themes emerged from the analysis: phone-aided audio counselling (1) legitimises the CHWs' use of mobile phones during household visits; (2) helps CHWs to deliver a comprehensive counselling message; (3) supports CHWs in persuading communities to change their health practices. The findings show the complexity and interplay of the multi-faceted, sociocultural, political, and socioemotional meanings associated with audio-counselling use. Practical implications and the demand for further research are discussed.
在撒哈拉以南非洲的众多移动健康（mHealth）项目中，卫生工作者使用手机上的咨询信息进行健康教育是一个核心但却鲜为人知的现象。本研究借鉴了在马拉维农村千年村项目背景下进行的一项解释性案例研究的实证数据，调查了社区卫生工作者（CHW）如何看待音频咨询信息对其健康教育实践的支持。分析得出了三个主要主题：电话辅助音频咨询（1）使社区卫生工作者在家庭访视期间使用手机合法化；（2）帮助社区卫生工作者传递全面的咨询信息；（3）支持社区卫生工作者说服社区改变其健康行为。研究结果显示了与音频咨询使用相关的多方面、社会文化、政治和社会情感意义的复杂性和相互作用。文中还讨论了实际意义以及对进一步研究的需求。
