Can the ubiquitous power of mobile phones be used to improve health outcomes in developing countries?

By W. Kaplan. Globalization and Health, 2006

634 citations recorded by the source corpus.

BackgroundThe ongoing policy debate about the value of communications technology in promoting development objectives is diverse. Some view computer/web/phone communications technology as insufficient to solve development problems while others view communications technology as assisting all sections of the population. This paper looks at evidence to support or refute the idea that fixed and mobile telephones is, or could be, an effective healthcare intervention in developing countries.MethodsA Web-based and library database search was undertaken including the following databases: MEDLINE, CINAHL, (nursing & allied health), Evidence Based Medicine (EBM), POPLINE, BIOSIS, and Web of Science, AIDSearch (MEDLINE AIDS/HIV Subset, AIDSTRIALS & AIDSDRUGS) databases.ResultsEvidence can be found to both support and refute the proposition that fixed and mobile telephones is, or could be, an effective healthcare intervention in developing countries. It is difficult to generalize because of the different outcome measurements and the small number of controlled studies. There is almost no literature on using mobile telephones as a healthcare intervention for HIV, TB, malaria, and chronic conditions in developing countries. Clinical outcomes are rarely measured. Convincing evidence regarding the overall cost-effectiveness of mobile phone " telemedicine" is still limited and good-quality studies are rare. Evidence of the cost effectiveness of such interventions to improve adherence to medicines is also quite weak.ConclusionThe developed world model of personal ownership of a phone may not be appropriate to the developing world in which shared mobile telephone use is important. Sharing may be a serious drawback to use of mobile telephones as a healthcare intervention in terms of stigma and privacy, but its magnitude is unknown. One advantage, however, of telephones with respect to adherence to medicine in chronic care models is its ability to create a multi-way interaction between patient and provider(s) and thus facilitate the dynamic nature of this relationship. Regulatory reforms required for proper operation of basic and value-added telecommunications services are a priority if mobile telecommunications are to be used for healthcare initiatives.

Subfields: General Health Professions, Information Systems

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/774d31a29540c77ebe4856535f53968a9748a097

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In General Health Professions

In Information Systems

Citations in the corpus

Mobile phone messaging for preventive health care. (2012, background): “There is also a smaller chance of being misplaced compared to print materials, and of being invasive to daily lives compared to phone calls (Kaplan 2006).”
Remembering to Pay? Reminders vs. Financial Incentives for Loan Payments (2011, positive): “The majority of these papers focus on health related interventions such as immunization, smoke cessation, out patience attendance, maternal health, exercise and weight loss, etc. (for a review see Kaplan, 2006).”
Research Approaches to Mobile Use in the Developing World: A Review of the Literature (2008, background): “The application of mobile communication technologies in the public health domain has also begun (Kaplan 2006; Iluyemi et al. 2007), notably in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa (Woods et al. 2007; Lester, Gelmon, and Plummer 2006).”
How smartphones are changing the face of mobile and participatory healthcare: an overview, with example from eCAALYX (2011, positive): “Some studies have highlighted the successful use of mobile phones to support telemedicine and remote healthcare in developing nations [14], with examples including their use in off-site medical diagnosis [15] and as information support in the treatment of HIV care in difficult to reach rural areas [”
Mobile phone technologies improve adherence to antiretroviral treatment in a resource-limited setting: a randomized controlled trial of text message reminders (2011, background): “Although the potential for mobile phones to make an impact on health has been popularized in the literature and lay press, little evidence had been provided to support such claims [43,44].”