Standardized Functions for Smartphone Applications: Examples from Maternal and Child Health

Autor: Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus, Mark Tomlinson, Dallas Swendeman, Adabel Lee, Erynne Jones
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2012
Předmět:
Zdroj: International Journal of Telemedicine and Applications, Vol 2012 (2012)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1687-6415
1687-6423
DOI: 10.1155/2012/973237
Popis: Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are unlikely to be met in most low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Smartphones and smartphone proxy systems using simpler phones, equipped with the capabilities to identify location/time and link to the web, are increasingly available and likely to provide an excellent platform to support healthcare self-management, delivery, quality, and supervision. Smart phones allow information to be delivered by voice, texts, pictures, and videos as well as be triggered by location and date. Prompts and reminders, as well as real-time monitoring, can improve quality of health care. We propose a three-tier model for designing platforms for both professional and paraprofessional health providers and families: (1) foundational functions (informing, training, monitoring, shaping, supporting, and linking to care); (2) content-specific targets (e.g., for MDG; developmentally related tasks); (3) local cultural adaptations (e.g., language). We utilize the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) MDG in order to demonstrate how the existing literature can be organized and leveraged on open-source platforms and provide examples using our own experience in Africa over the last 8 years.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals