Training Health Care Providers

Mobile technology can address many of the challenges of training health care providers. For providers
that are farremoved from urban facilities, mobiles can deliverinformation to the point of care. The portability of mobiles may be well suited to the mobility of providers, providing immediate access to information at the time of need. Content can be adapted for providers to stay up to date with the latest advancements or protocols. These training can be delivered on a variety of devices to a variety of types of health care providers.

mLearning is one type of mHealth for educating and increasing the capacity of health care providers. The resources below address mLearning through both mobile phones and smart phones/PDAs, which can differ significantly. At this early stage of mHealth, limited evidence is available for effectiveness in developing countries. To discuss these approaches or suggest other information sources, please go to the discussion board of the mHealth Toolkit.

Guides, Overviews and Frameworks

Planning mLearning: Advantages and Limitations

mLearning with Mobile Phones

mLearning with Smart Phones and PDAs

Additional Information Sources for Using mLearning to Train Providers

Guides, Overviews and Frameworks

This section provide background on the proper uses and design of mLearning.

The effect of mobile phone text-message reminders on Kenyan health workers' adherence to malaria treatment guidelines: a cluster randomised trial

2011 | Lancet | Pages: 9

PubMed

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Health workers' malaria case-management practices often differ from national guidelines. We assessed whether text-message reminders sent to health workers' mobile phones could improve and maintain their adherence to treatment guidelines for outpatient paediatric malaria in Kenya. METHODS: From March 6, 2009, to May 31, 2010, we did a cluster-randomised controlled trial at 107 rural health facilities in 11 districts in coastal and western Kenya.

2011 | Journal of Medical Systems | 1431-45 (15 pp)

Link to article

2010 | The eLearning Guild | Pages: 47

English

Summary: This document provides an overview on the implementation of mobile techonogy for Learning and distinguishes mLearning from e-learning.

2009 | Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 103: 638-640. | 3

document

Data collection: interviewer –administered; training: Guides

2008 | Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc 5342-5345 | 4

document

The development of new information and communication technologies has enabled greater health service provision through such novel concepts as telemedicine. Telemedicine has been vital toward supporting patient diagnosis and treatment. A ICU/CCU Remote Monitoring System on 3G-enabled phones was developed to enhance telemedicine conditions. Four key functions include Real-time Waveform Monitoring, List Trend Monitoring, Graph Trend Monitoring and Patient Information Checking. Evaluations of the system were done on several phone to assess generalizability.

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Michael Allen's Guide to e-Learning

2003 | John Wiley & Sons

Link

This source is about a developed country.

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Planning mLearning: Advantages and Limitations (2 resources)

Review of the possible advantages and limitations of mLearning for time, education, quality of care, and ancillary effects, as well as underlying issues of technology qualities, adoption, usability, costs, interoperability, development processes, and sustainability.

mLearning with Mobile Phones

This section displays resources on the use of low-end mobile phones for training health care providers.

mHealth Education: Harnessing the Mobile Revolution to Bridge the Health Education & Training Gap in Developing Countries

2011 | iheed | Pages: 44

English

The iheed Institute and Dalberg Global Development Advisors have prepared this report to set the stage for mHealthEd 2011 at GSMA m-Health Alliance Mobile Health Summit, which is the first dedicated conference on the emerging phenomenon of mobile Health Education.

2009 | Nursing Praxis in New Zealand | Pages: 30-40

DOI |

PubMed

Abstract: Lecturer support for nursing students in clinical placements is essential to assist students in consolidating their clinical experience and making links between theory and practice. The primary health care context poses challenges different from those of secondary or tertiary clinical settings. To deal with these challenges in primary health care settings a project using eTXT and SMS (Short Message Service) was introduced. This provides M-Support for students via a lecturer's computer and students' mobile phones.

2009 | Royal Holloway University of London | Pages: 49

English

2008 | Asian Journal of Communication | Pages: 348 - 364

DOI

Abstract: The role of ICTs in providing improved healthcare to poor populations in the developing world has been the subject of considerable interest to the development community. However, despite a substantial literature, little published research has modelled both the value-added aspects of ICTs for social and economic development and those simultaneous challenges that often deter the effective utilisation of ICTs.

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mLearning with Smart Phones and PDAs

This section displays resources on the use of smart phones and PDAs for training health care providers.

Mobile Learning for Health Care Workers in Peru

Current | Mobile Learning for Development

Website Link

Summary: As mobile devices have been on the rise in Peru and they enable people to stay in contact with one another, we wondered whether mobile learning in combination with social media might provide a solution for the lack of training for HCW scattered across the country. Situation: As a Health Care Worker (HCW) you abide by the Hippocrates’ oath, you want to provide the best possible care at the best of your human possibilities. Unfortunately, nature and the global society we live in provide some challenges.

Current | AED-SATELLIFE

Website link

Summary: The Uganda Health Information Network (UHIN) was conceived in 2003 to provide two-way access to information utilizing existing cellular telephone network and low-cost, simple to use, and energy efficient handheld computers (also known as Personal Digital Assistant or PDA) for supporting health information dissemination, data collection and reporting, and email exchange.

2010 | MobileActive.org

Website link

Summary: In rural locations, doctors and nurses are often acting in isolation, separated from the medical community and easy access to information.

2009 | Journal of Health Communication | Pages: 77-95

DOI |

PubMed

Abstract: Research has begun to explore the determinants of personal digital assistant (PDA) adoption in health care. Much of this research has, however, been inconsistent in its treatment of key constructs and its methodological approaches. The current study takes a stricter approach and tracks the pre- and postadoption beliefs of physicians provided with an actual PDA within a single health care facility in the United States.

2008 | International Development Research Centre (IDRC)

Website Link

Summary: In order for health workers to provide effective patient care, access to timely information is essential. In the Caribbean, nurses often lack basic resources, work remotely, and are isolated, which makes data sharing challenging. Enhancing Nurses Access for Care Quality and Knowledge through Technology (ENACQKT) empowers nurses by providing training and other services via PDAs.

2008 | Journal of Medical Internet Research | Pages: 31-45

DOI |

PubMed

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Health care personnel need access to updated information anywhere and at any time, and a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) has the potential to meet these requirements. A PDA is a mobile tool which has been employed widely for various purposes in health care practice, and the level of its use is expected to increase. Loaded with suitable functions and software applications, a PDA might qualify as the tool that personnel and students in health care need.

2007 | J Med Liban | Pages: 19-28

PubMed

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) has become nowadays a powerful and essential tool for many physicians. Its promising success in the near future and the lack of information in regard to its use in Lebanon led to this transverse study. METHODS: A questionnaire was submitted to the doctors, residents and interns of Hôtel-Dieu de France (HDF) Hospital (Beirut), during March-April 2004 in order to evaluate the use of PDAs, the preferences and the needs of the medical personnel and to propose solutions which can meet its needs.

2006 | Journal of General Internal Medicine | Pages: 531-537

DOI |

PubMed

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Over the past decade, handheld computers (or personal digital assistants [PDAs]) have become a popular tool among medical trainees and physicians. Few comprehensive reviews of PDA use in medicine have been published. OBJECTIVE: We systematically reviewed the literature to (1) describe medical trainees' use of PDAs for education or patient care, (2) catalog popular software applications, and (3) evaluate the impact of PDA use on patient care.

2003 | Telemedicine Journal & eHealth | Pages: 141-7

DOI |

PubMed

Abstract: Two recent parallel developments, the widespread deployment of wireless networks and increased use of handheld devices like the personal digital assistant (PDA), have contributed to the development of mobile access to the Internet. Recent surveys show that approximately 25% or more of physicians use PDAs. Although used mainly for personal information management and static medical applications, PDAs have capabilities to connect to the Internet.

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