Digital health: the digital good in low-resource settings in Africa
Access to quality healthcare remains a major problem in sub-Saharan Africa. Digital technology can overcome barriers by bridging distance, saving costs and connecting people at the right time, to the right health workers when care is needed; but it can also create ethical dilemmas for healthcare workers, decision-makers and communities who want affordable services without compromising quality or losing control over health data. This project examined the case study of remote consulting using mobile phones in low-resource settings of sub-Saharan Africa.
This project gave a fresh perspective on remote consulting and the place of digital health within society: context continues to matter. Using deliberation to reflect on ethical systems and the social determinants of health has enabled the project to better articulate and conceptualise the dilemmas through a series of vignettes, while developing a shared language and framework.
This approach has brought home the importance of critically examining the digital good in healthcare, even in the most simple-seeming of digital forms – a call between two people using mobile phones.
Watch the project video:
This animation explores some of the dilemmas the research team identified with stakeholders when considering the use of mobile phone-based healthcare consultations.
Animation credit: Nifty Fox
Team
Dr Bronwyn Harris, Associate Professor in Public Health, University of Warwick
Golden Lwando Mwinsa, PhD Student, Social Science and Systems in Health Unit (SSSU), Division of Health Sciences, Warwick Medical School- University of Warwick.
Campion Zharima, PhD student, Centre for Health Policy, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.
Dr Funke Fayehun, Associate Professor And Head of Department of Sociology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Professor Jane Goudge, Centre for Health Policy, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
Professor Senga Pemba, Professor of Medical Education, St Francis University College of Health and Allied Sciences, Ifakara Tanzania
Dr Violet Naanyu, Associate Professor, School of Arts and Social Sciences, Moi University, Kenya
Professor Frances Griffiths, Professor of Medicine in Society, University of Warwick
Fellows/Graduates of the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) participated in the ethics deliberations and contributed to the construction of the vignettes/journal article. This included:
Skye Nandi Adams, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
Adeyinka Adefolarin, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Adebolajo Adewunmi Adeywmo, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Ayodele John Alonge, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Olujide Arije, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria
Margaret Omowaleola Akinwaare, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Oluwatope Omolayo Bukola, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria
Felishana Cherop, Moi University, Kenya
Temitope Ilori, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Tumaini Malenga, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences and National TB and Leprosy Elimination Programme (NTLEP), Ministry of Health, Malawi
Judith Mwansa-Kambafwile, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
Catherine Musyoka, University of Nairobi, Kenya
Ernest Moya, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Malawi
Samuel W. Mwaniki , University of Nairobi, Kenya
Adesola Olumide, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Abimbola Margaret Obimakinde, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Temitope Olumuyiwa Ojo, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria
Robert Rutayisire, University of Rwanda, Rwanda
Olutoyin Sekoni, University of Ibadan, Nigeria