Mariwah Simon, Machistey Abane Albert, Asiedu Owusu Samuel, Kasim Adetayo, Robson Elsbeth, Castelli Michele, Hampshire Kate
Department of Geography and Regional Planning, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Research, Innovation and Consultancy (DRIC), University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Glob Public Health. 2022 May;17(5):768-781. doi: 10.1080/17441692.2021.1874467. Epub 2021 Jan 24.
While mobile phones promise to be an important tool for bridging the healthcare gaps in resource-poor areas in developing countries, scalability and sustainability of mobile phones for health (mhealth) interventions still remain a major challenge. Meanwhile, health workers are already using their own mobile phones (referred to as 'informal mhealth') to facilitate healthcare delivery in diverse ways. Therefore, this paper explores some strategies for integrating 'informal mHealth' in the healthcare delivery of Ghana, by highlighting some opportunities and challenges. The study mainly employed a combination of literature review, focus group discussions and key informant interviews with community health nurses (CHNs) and other stakeholders, who were purposively selected from the three ecological zones in Ghana. The study found that, while scale-up of 'formal mhealth' remains challenging in Ghana, almost all CHNs in our study are using their personal mobile phones 'informally' to bridge healthcare gaps, thereby promoting universal health coverage. This provides opportunities for promoting (or formalising) 'informal' mhealth in Ghana, in spite of some practical challenges in the use of personal mobile phones that need to be addressed to ensure sustainable healthcare delivery in the country.
虽然移动电话有望成为弥合发展中国家资源匮乏地区医疗保健差距的重要工具，但用于健康领域的移动电话（移动医疗）干预措施的可扩展性和可持续性仍然是一项重大挑战。与此同时，卫生工作者已经在以各种方式使用他们自己的移动电话（称为“非正式移动医疗”）来促进医疗服务的提供。因此，本文通过强调一些机遇和挑战，探讨了将“非正式移动医疗”纳入加纳医疗服务提供体系的一些策略。该研究主要采用了文献综述、焦点小组讨论以及对社区卫生护士（CHNs）和其他利益相关者进行关键信息访谈的方法，这些人员是从加纳的三个生态区域中特意挑选出来的。研究发现，虽然在加纳扩大“正式移动医疗”规模仍然具有挑战性，但我们研究中的几乎所有社区卫生护士都在“非正式地”使用他们的个人移动电话来弥合医疗保健差距，从而促进全民健康覆盖。尽管在使用个人移动电话方面存在一些实际挑战，需要加以解决以确保该国医疗服务的可持续提供，但这为在加纳推广（或使）“非正式”移动医疗“正规化”提供了机遇。
