ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: mHealth technologies play a crucial role in healthcare delivery, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and offer a variety of opportunities. The expansion of mobile phone availability and usage has been especially significant in LMICs, facilitating the use of mobile health (mHealth) technologies. In 2020, 2,4 million newborns died worldwide during the neonatal period. Global interest in mHealth interventions to improve neonatal health and eliminate preventable neonatal deaths is expanding rapidly. This is illustrated by the development of the mHealth application Picterus, which aids healthcare workers in detecting neonatal jaundice. mHealth solutions can provide cheaper, faster, and more convenient approaches than the conventional methods utilized in many LMICs. Despite some existing mHealth interventions, Nigeria is among the countries worldwide with a low adoption rate; thus, it is essential to investigate the causes of this. Healthcare workers' engagement is essential for mHealth's adoption and sustainability. Therefore, this qualitative study aims to explore healthcare workers' perceptions in Lagos, Nigeria, regarding mHealth technologies.
METHODS: Doctors, nurses, and Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) from primary, secondary, and tertiary public health institutions in Lagos, Nigeria, participated in a total of six focus group discussions (FGD). The FGDs were divided into two segments. The first segment addressed mHealth technologies in general, while the second featured a demonstration of the mHealth app Picterus, focusing on screening support and neonatal health. The focus group discussions were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using a thematic approach.
FINDINGS: The thematic analysis of the FGDs revealed information regarding the benefits that promote the use of mHealth and the barriers that limit its use, as perceived by healthcare workers. The perceived benefits included expanded access to health-related information, enhanced patient-provider communication, time savings, flexibility, and the development of the health care system. On the other hand, perceived barriers included altering healthcare routine practices, disconnection of face-to-face patient-provider relationships, skepticism and lack of trust, information overload, and lack of awareness, knowledge, and skills. In addition, costs, power supply, internet access, network failure, and lack of- and maintenance of devices were considered barriers.
CONCLUSION: The findings of this study can be disseminated to developers and implementers of mHealth technologies, who can use them to create new or enhance existing mHealth solutions to better meet the needs and requirements of healthcare workers in low- to middle-income health settings, such as Lagos, Nigeria. By doing so, appropriate mHealth initiatives with the potential to improve healthcare for individuals can be adopted and is also crucial for minimizing preventable newborn deaths.
KEYWORDS: Mobile Health, mobile applications, healthcare workers, perceptions, low- and middle-income countries, Nigeria, neonatal deaths, jaundice, Picterus app, screening tools, thematic analysis