Evidence on feasibility and effective use of mHealth strategies by frontline health workers in developing countries

Article from the Journal of Tropical Medicine and International Health

Evidence on feasibility and effective use of mHealth strategies by frontline health workers in developing countries

Study Results from Abstract: "Forty-two studies were included in this review. With adequate training, FHWs were able to use mobile phones to enhance various aspects of their work activities. Training of FHWs to use mobile phones for healthcare delivery ranged from a few hours to about 1 week. Five key thematic areas for the use of mobile phones by FHWs were identified as follows: data collection and reporting, training and decision support, emergency referrals, work planning through alerts and reminders, and improved supervision of and communication between healthcare workers. Findings suggest that mobile based data collection improves promptness of data collection, reduces error rates and improves data completeness. Two methodologically robust studies suggest that regular access to health information via SMS or mobile-based decision-support systems may improve the adherence of the FHWs to treatment algorithms. The evidence on the effectiveness of the other approaches was largely descriptive and inconclusive."

Study RegionUnited States
OrganizationJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Issue or ProblemHealth worker training
Tech MediumSMS
Technology DeviceMobile Phone
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