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New Publication: The Global Smartphone; Beyond a Youth Technology

 

 

This book series is based on a project called ‘The Anthropology of Smartphones and Smart Ageing’, or ASSA. This project focused on the experiences of ageing among a demographic who generally do not regard themselves as either young or elderly. We were particularly interested in the use and consequences of smartphones for this age group, as these devices are today a global and increasingly ubiquitous technology that had previously been associated with youth. 

The book also considers how the smartphone has impacted upon the health of people in this age group and to see whether we could contribute to this field by reporting on the ways in which people have adopted smartphones as a means of improving their welfare. The project consists of 11 researchers working in 10 field sites across 9 countries as follows:  Alfonso Otaegui (Santiago, Chile); Charlotte Hawkins (Kampala, Uganda); Daniel Miller (Cuan, Ireland); Laila Abed Rabho and Maya de Vries (al-Quds [East Jerusalem]); Laura Haapio-Kirk (Japan); Marília Duque (Brazil); Patrick Awondo (Cameroon); Pauline Garvey (Ireland); Shireen Walton (Italy) and Xinyuan Wang ( China). 

You can access the book on this link

mHealth in Malawi – Landscape Analysis (Ministry of Health and Population, Malawi, 2018)

As mobile technology has become ubiquitous, Malawi has seen several robust service delivery mobile applications for healthcare deployed with different levels of success. SMS and phone hotline projects have reached national scale and have been widely regarded as having both high impact and ease of use. Unfortunately, to date, no smartphone applications have been able to scale to a national audience and systems remain in silos both geographically, topically, and technically. With limited resources, how do we determine which solutions should expand, where pilots can provide
new insights into existing gaps, and how to create a national policy that allows for both innovation and scale?

To aid the Kuunika: Data for Action project in developing and implementing mobile technology in Malawi, and to a larger extent, to aid the Ministry of Health and Population in the governance of mobile technology, Cooper Smith conducted an independent evaluation of mobile health technology systems currently being implemented in Malawi. This assessment provides a concrete way that Malawi can adapt high-level frameworks and tools into assessments that provide evidence for policies, standards, and strategies in mobile health.

Click here for full analysis.

Monitoring and Evaluating Digital Health Interventions: A practical guide to conducting research and assessment (WHO, 2016)

Since 2011, in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) Department of Reproductive Health and Research (RHR), the United Nations Foundation (UNF) has been supported by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) to oversee three yearly rounds of grants to mHealth projects. A total of 26 organizations received financial investments and technical assistance towards the goal of demonstrating potential for scaling up digital health innovations to catalyse achievement of the health-focused United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The research and technical support provided through this mechanism, with assistance from the Johns Hopkins University Global mHealth Initiative (JHU-GmI), have afforded numerous opportunities to engage with and learn from implementing partners on the ground, across Asia and Africa.

This resource represents the collective learning from five years of engagement with agencies working to strengthen their digital health deployments, develop robust evaluations, and scale up their activities nationally and regionally. The lessons learnt from working with these partners are described in this document, which provides high-level guidance and systematic direction to programme planners and implementers embarking on similar journeys. Specifically, this Guide provides an introduction to the approaches and methods that were identified as useful for (i) the monitoring of project (i.e. intervention) deployments, focusing on the quality and fidelity of the intervention inputs; and (ii) the evaluation of project outputs and impacts across a number of axes, from user satisfaction to process improvements, health outcomes and cost–effectiveness.

Although more in-depth texts and curricula are available on the methods discussed, this Guide focuses on presenting pragmatic highlights and experience-informed tips for implementers to consider, together with links and resources for further study. It leads the reader through the development of value “claims”, evaluation designs and indicators associated with their digital health intervention, an assessment of the quality and availability of the data from their intervention, and finally, a series of guidelines for the reporting of findings.

Click here for full guide.

The mHealth Planning Guide: Key Considerations for Integrating Mobile Technology into Health Programs (K4Health 2014)

The mHealth Planning Guide helps individuals and organizations appropriately plan for mHealth deployments. This Guide provides a thorough orientation to the mHealth planning process for anyone looking to learn more about integrating mobile technology into health programs in low- and middle-income countries, outlines key considerations and resources for planning an mHealth intervention, from concept development and technology design to preparation for implementation, and helps build a strong foundation for mHealth activity.

This Guide is intended primarily for global health technical experts, program managers, and staff working to implement mHealth solutions in low-resource settings.

 

Mobile 4 Reproductive Health (m4RH) Toolkit (FHI 360 2016)

The Mobile 4 Reproductive Health (m4RH) toolkit provides information and tips from FHI 360’s work in mobile technology for health over several years and is intended to share lessons learned as well as facilitate replication of this SMS-based family planning and reproductive health information service. The toolkit includes an overview of m4RH, recent demographic and use data gathered through routine system use and from several studies, sample messages, costing data and a description of message development and adaptation process.

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