Factors affecting the use of Infomediaries in Mhealth Interventions: Case of Maternal Healthcare in Rural Malawi

19 pages•Published: November 24, 2022

Abstract

Maternal mHealth interventions in poor-resource settings are bedeviled by inequalities in mobile phone ownership. Some maternal mHealth providers facilitate the access of the mobile phones to those who do not own mobile phones using “infomediaries”. Infomediaries, in this case, are individuals who have custody of mobile phones, which other potential beneficiaries may use. However, use of infomediaries to offer access to the “have nots” may be influenced by a number of factors. The aim of the study was to explore how maternal healthcare clients use infomediaries in maternal mHealth interventions. The study focused on maternal healthcare clients who do not own mobile phones but use the mHealth intervention. The study used a case of a maternal mHealth intervention project in Malawi. We used a qualitative research method and interpretive paradigm. Data was collected using secondary data from the implementing agency, semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions. Empirical data was collected from maternal healthcare clients who do not own mobile phones and infomediaries. Data was analyzed inductively using thematic analysis. We found that characteristics of the maternal healthcare client, characteristics of the mHealth infomediary, perceived value of mHealth intervention and socio-environmental factors affect maternal healthcare clients’ use of mHealth infomediaries. The study informs mHealth designers and implementers on how they can include all potential beneficiaries of an intervention. The study also proposed a framework for studying infomediaries in ICT4D. We recommend that implementers of interventions should leverage traditional systems instead of reinventing the wheel. Traditional systems may offer a good starting point for designing a system which would work for communities.

Keyphrases: infomediaries, maternal mhealth interventions, mhealth, mhealth infomediary use

In: Hossana Twinomurinzi, Nkosikhona Msweli and Tendani Mawela (editors). Proceedings of NEMISA Summit and Colloquium 2022: The Future of Work and Digital Skills, vol 4, pages 12-30.

Links:	https://easychair.org/publications/paper/3M96
	https://doi.org/10.29007/kxnq

BibTeX entry

@inproceedings{DigitalSkills2022:Factors_affecting_use_Infomediaries,
  author    = {Priscilla Maliwichi and Wallace Chigona},
  title     = {Factors affecting the use of Infomediaries in Mhealth Interventions: Case of Maternal Healthcare in Rural Malawi},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of NEMISA Summit and Colloquium 2022: The Future of Work and Digital Skills},
  editor    = {Hossana Twinomurinzi and Nkosikhona Msweli and Tendani Mawela},
  series    = {EPiC Series in Education Science},
  volume    = {4},
  publisher = {EasyChair},
  bibsource = {EasyChair, https://easychair.org},
  issn      = {2516-2306},
  url       = {/publications/paper/3M96},
  doi       = {10.29007/kxnq},
  pages     = {12-30},
  year      = {2022}}

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