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A Socio-technical Perspective on the Use of Mobile Phones for Remote Data Collection in Home Community Based Care in Developing Countries

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e-Infrastructure and e-Services for Developing Countries (AFRICOMM 2011)

Abstract

The adoption of technology into the health care industry has been criticized as being overtly techno-centric. It is assumed that health information technologies will fit into the environment and be easily adopted by the user. This, however, is a fallacy. Research has shown that a socio-technical approach, optimizing the interaction between the relevant social, environmental and technical sub-systems, is preferred. In this paper, a socio-technical perspective is gained on the adoption of health information technologies in the home community based care context, specifically the use of mobile phones for remote data collection. Based on data gathered through interviews with and observations of caregivers administering care in the community, this paper identifies and discusses the social, environmental and technical factors that affect community health care workers while they are using mobile phones to capture patient data in the home community based care environment in developing countries.

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© 2012 ICST Institute for Computer Science, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering

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Shozi, N.A., Pottas, D., Mostert-Phipps, N. (2012). A Socio-technical Perspective on the Use of Mobile Phones for Remote Data Collection in Home Community Based Care in Developing Countries. In: Popescu-Zeletin, R., Jonas, K., Rai, I.A., Glitho, R., Villafiorita, A. (eds) e-Infrastructure and e-Services for Developing Countries. AFRICOMM 2011. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 92. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29093-0_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29093-0_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-29092-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-29093-0

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