Digital Health

  • Open Access
    Remote Sensing of Vital Signs: A Wearable, Wireless “Band-Aid” Sensor With Personalized Analytics for Improved Ebola Patient Care and Worker Safety
    Steven R Steinhubl, Mark P Marriott and Stephan W Wegerich
    Global Health: Science and Practice September 2015, 3(3):516-519; https://doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-15-00189

    This wireless sensor technology, currently being field-tested in an Ebola Treatment Unit in Sierra Leone, monitors multiple vital signs continuously and remotely. When connected with enhanced analytics software, it can discern changes in patients’ status much more quickly and intelligently than conventional periodic monitoring, thus saving critical health care worker time and reducing exposure to pathogens.

  • Open Access
    Successful mLearning Pilot in Senegal: Delivering Family Planning Refresher Training Using Interactive Voice Response and SMS
    Abdoulaye Diedhiou, Kate E Gilroy, Carie Muntifering Cox, Luke Duncan, Djimadoum Koumtingue, Sara Pacqué-Margolis, Alfredo Fort, Dykki Settle and Rebecca Bailey
    Global Health: Science and Practice June 2015, 3(2):305-321; https://doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-14-00220

    Health workers’ knowledge of contraceptive side effects increased substantially. The mobile phone approach was convenient and flexible and did not disrupt routine service delivery. Clear limitations of the medium are participants can’t practice clinical skills or have interactive discussions. Also, some participants had trouble with network reception.

  • Open Access
    Biometric Fingerprint System to Enable Rapid and Accurate Identification of Beneficiaries
    Daniel Matthew L Storisteanu, Toby L Norman, Alexandra Grigore and Tristram L Norman
    Global Health: Science and Practice March 2015, 3(1):135-137; https://doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-15-00010

    Inability to uniquely identify clients impedes access to services and contributes to inefficiencies. Using a pocket-sized fingerprint scanner that wirelessly syncs with a health worker's smartphone, the SimPrints biometric system can link individuals' fingerprints to their health records. A pilot in Bangladesh will assess its potential.

  • Open Access
    mHealth resources to strengthen health programs
    Kelly L'Engle, Laura Raney and Margaret D'Adamo
    Global Health: Science and Practice February 2014, 2(1):130-131; https://doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-14-00013

    A suite of resources provides implementation guidance for mHealth initiatives, particularly in less developed countries. The suite includes an eLearning course, online guide, evidence database, and a High-Impact Practices brief, along with the mHealth Working Group and website.

  • Open Access
    Taking knowledge for health the extra mile: participatory evaluation of a mobile phone intervention for community health workers in Malawi
    Natalie Campbell, Eva Schiffer, Ann Buxbaum, Elizabeth McLean, Cary Perry and Tara M Sullivan
    Global Health: Science and Practice February 2014, 2(1):23-34; https://doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-13-00141

    A participatory evaluation process called Net-Map showed that providing community health workers (CHWs) with mobile phones and essential technical information changed CHWs, from passive recipients of information with little influence to active information agents who sought and provided information to improve health services.

  • Open Access
    SMS versus voice messaging to deliver MNCH communication in rural Malawi: assessment of delivery success and user experience
    Jessica Crawford, Erin Larsen-Cooper, Zachariah Jezman, Stacey C Cunningham and Emily Bancroft
    Global Health: Science and Practice February 2014, 2(1):35-46; https://doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-13-00155

    Mobile SMS health messages had higher successful delivery and led to higher intended or actual behavior change among subscribers than voice messages. Providing multiple delivery modalities led to greater overall access.

  • Open Access
    mHealth innovations as health system strengthening tools: 12 common applications and a visual framework
    Alain B Labrique, Lavanya Vasudevan, Erica Kochi, Robert Fabricant and Garrett Mehl
    Global Health: Science and Practice August 2013, 1(2):160-171; https://doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-13-00031

    This new framework lays out 12 common mHealth applications used as health systems strengthening innovations across the reproductive health continuum.

  • Open Access
    Successful use of tablet personal computers and wireless technologies for the 2011 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey
    Deepak Paudel, Marie Ahmed, Anjushree Pradhan and Rajendra Lal Dangol
    Global Health: Science and Practice August 2013, 1(2):277-284; https://doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-12-00056

    Using tablet personal computers and wireless technologies in place of paper-based questionnaires to administer the Nepal DHS in a geographically diverse setting appeared to improve data quality and reduce data collection time. Challenges include inconsistent electricity supply, safe storage and transport of equipment, and screen readability issues under direct sunlight, which limited confidential interview spaces.

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