Professor Kate Hampshire k.r.hampshire@durham.ac.uk
Professor
Informal m-health: How are young people using mobile phones to bridge healthcare gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Hampshire, Kate; Porter, Gina; Owusu, Samuel Asiedu; Mariwah, Simon; Abane, Albert; Robson, Elsbeth; Munthali, Alister; DeLannoy, Ariane; Bango, Andisiwe; Gunguluza, Nwabisa; Milner, James
Authors
Gina Porter
Samuel Asiedu Owusu
Simon Mariwah
Albert Abane
Elsbeth Robson
Alister Munthali
Ariane DeLannoy
Andisiwe Bango
Nwabisa Gunguluza
James Milner
Abstract
The African communications ‘revolution’ has generated optimism that mobile phones might help overcome infrastructural barriers to healthcare provision in resource-poor contexts. However, while formal m-health programmes remain limited in coverage and scope, young people are using mobile phones creatively and strategically in an attempt to secure effective healthcare. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data collected in 2012–2014 from over 4500 young people (aged 8–25 y) in Ghana, Malawi and South Africa, this paper documents these practices and the new therapeutic opportunities they create, alongside the constraints, contingencies and risks. We argue that young people are endeavouring to lay claim to a digitally-mediated form of therapeutic citizenship, but that a lack of appropriate resources, social networks and skills (‘digital capital’), combined with ongoing shortcomings in healthcare delivery, can compromise their ability to do this effectively. The paper concludes by offering tentative suggestions for remedying this situation.
Citation
Hampshire, K., Porter, G., Owusu, S. A., Mariwah, S., Abane, A., Robson, E., …Milner, J. (2015). Informal m-health: How are young people using mobile phones to bridge healthcare gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa?. Social Science & Medicine, 142, 90-99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.07.033
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Jul 29, 2015 |
Online Publication Date | Aug 3, 2015 |
Publication Date | Oct 1, 2015 |
Deposit Date | Aug 14, 2015 |
Publicly Available Date | Sep 23, 2015 |
Journal | Social science and medicine |
Print ISSN | 0277-9536 |
Publisher | Elsevier |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 142 |
Pages | 90-99 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.07.033 |
Keywords | Mobile phones, Therapeutic citizenship, Adolescent health, Digital capital, m-health, Ghana, Malawi, South Africa. |
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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Copyright Statement
© 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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