Umaefulam Valerie, Premkumar Kalyani, Koole Marguerite
Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
Educational Technology and Design, Department of Curriculum Studies, College of Education, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
Digit Health. 2022 Apr 7;8:20552076221092537. doi: 10.1177/20552076221092537. eCollection 2022 Jan-Dec.
Indigenous peoples in Canada face numerous health needs and challenges and often have poor health status due to inequitable access to care. Providing culturally appropriate support for health conditions, particularly chronic conditions that require self-management, can assist in averting complications and morbidity. Mobile health is a useful medium for delivering health education across different populations. However, meaningful user involvement is necessary because mobile health interventions suitable for one population may not be appropriate for another. Indigenous people's views will inform the use of mobile health interventions in Indigenous communities.
The study explored the perception of Indigenous women on using mobile health as a tool for receiving health information.
This was a qualitative study, and participants comprised of 22 Indigenous women (First Nations and Métis) with or at risk of diabetes, aged 18-69 years in Saskatoon, Canada. After 12 weeks of disseminating diabetic eye care information via text messaging, data were collected via sharing circle discussions and analyzed using thematic analysis.
Participants indicated that the nature of messages such as the use of Indigenous languages, the message content, frequency of messages, group activities, and delivery formats such as voice messages, mobile applications, Internet, two-way messaging, and text messages were essential considerations in using mobile health as a tool for receiving health information.
Different factors need to be considered in using mobile health as a tool for health education among Indigenous peoples. These factors could be applicable in implementing mobile health solutions in other populations for the management of health conditions.
加拿大的原住民面临着众多健康需求和挑战，由于获得医疗服务的机会不平等，他们的健康状况往往较差。为健康状况，特别是需要自我管理的慢性病提供符合文化背景的支持，有助于避免并发症和发病。移动健康是向不同人群提供健康教育的一种有用媒介。然而，有意义的用户参与是必要的，因为适合某一人群的移动健康干预措施可能不适用于另一人群。原住民的观点将为在原住民社区使用移动健康干预措施提供参考。
本研究探讨了原住民女性对使用移动健康作为获取健康信息工具的看法。
这是一项定性研究，参与者包括22名患有糖尿病或有患糖尿病风险的原住民女性（第一民族和梅蒂斯人），年龄在18至69岁之间，位于加拿大萨斯卡通。通过短信传播糖尿病眼部护理信息12周后，通过分享圈讨论收集数据，并使用主题分析进行分析。
参与者表示，诸如使用原住民语言、信息内容、信息频率、小组活动以及语音信息、移动应用程序、互联网、双向信息和短信等传递形式等信息的性质，是将移动健康作为获取健康信息工具时的重要考虑因素。
在将移动健康作为原住民健康教育工具时，需要考虑不同因素。这些因素可能适用于在其他人群中实施移动健康解决方案以管理健康状况。
