Dear HIFA colleagues,
On behalf of the HIFA mHealth-Innovate working group, I'm delighted to re-open discussion on the informal use of mobile phones by health workers.
Those of you who have been members since 2022 will have been engaged in our first discussion on this topic, which was analysed and published in the journal Oxford Open Digital Health: Using an online community of practice to explore the informal use of mobile phones by health workers. Claire Glenton et al. 2023. https://academic.oup.com/oodh/article/doi/10.1093/oodh/oqac003/6969411?l...
Since then we have contributed to a systematic review on the subject, published in the Cochrane Library in 2024. Healthcare workers’ informal uses of mobile phones and other mobile devices to support their work: a qualitative evidence synthesis. Claire Glenton et al. 2024 https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD015705.pub2/...
Both the above papers are open access.
In 2024, the research consortium undertook two primary research studies in Uganda, one with health workers and the other with policymakers. We'll let you knw as soon as these are published.
HIFA has been recognised as 'a vital part of the mHealth-Innovate research project as it has given us a unique opportunity to discuss topics with healthcare workers, managers and policy makers from across the world'. https://www.hifa.org/about-hifa/testimonials/professor-claire-glenton-pr...
NEXT STEPS
HIFA continues to be the main tool for the global health community to contribute to this process.
We now invite all HIFA members to discuss the findings and their implications for policy and practice, here on the HIFA forums (HIFA-English, HIFA-French, HIFA-Portuguese, HIFA-Spanish)
Over the next few days we shall share the top-level findings. We shall then move into a series of 10 topics and questions that emerge from the findings. Finally, from 22 April we shall explore five questions around srategies to maximise the benefits of informal phone use and minimise the disadvantages.
The above in turn will help inform a policy dialogue at WHO headquarters Geneva on 16 June.
For further information, see: www.hifa.org/mhealth
***Please forward this message to your contacts and networks and invite them to join us!*** The more people who join us for this discussion, the richer will be our interaction!
With thanks, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org