ArticleInternational journal of care coordination2018
Mobile health and the performance of maternal health care workers in low- and middle-income countries: A realist review.
Article in International journal of care coordination, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The mHealth clinical decision-making tools for maternal and perinatal health care in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- The effect of an interactive mobile health intervention to improve community-based essential neonatal care practices among postpartum women in northeast Ethiopia: a cluster randomized controlled trial.International health · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Use of mobile technology by frontline health workers to promote reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health and nutrition: a cluster randomized controlled Trial in Bihar, India.Journal of global health · 2019Trial
- Implementing women's sexual and reproductive health interventions in prisons: a realist review.BMJ open · 2026Review
- The implementation realities of a digital antenatal care improvement intervention: Insights from ethnographic work in primary health facilities in Nepal.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Pathways of change for essential newborn care practices and health care seeking: a process evaluation of Mamás del Río, a community-based, maternal and neonatal health intervention in the Peruvian Amazon.Health policy and planning · 2026Article
- Understanding motivating and demotivating factors among maternal healthcare professionals in Somalia: a qualitative interview study.BMJ global health · 2026Article
- A Novel Approach to Assessing the Potential of Electronic Decision Support Systems to Improve the Quality of Antenatal Care in Nepal.Global health, science and practice · 2025Article
- Evaluation of The Utilization of The iPosyandu Application in Enhancing Midwives' Competence in Early Pregnancy Detection Services: Mixed Methods Study.International journal of women's health · 2025Article
- Optimising digital clinical consultations in maternity care: a realist review and implementation principles.BMJ open · 2024Review
- A systematic review and qualitative evidence synthesis of factors affecting mHealth adoption in India.Oxford open digital health · 2024Article
- mHealth interventions for postpartum family planning in LMICs: A realist review.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Efficacy of mHealth Interventions for Improving Maternal and Neonatal Outcomes Among Pregnant Women With Hypertensive Disorders: Protocol for a Systematic Review.JMIR research protocols · 2023Article
- A Community-Based, Mobile Electronic Medical Record System App for High-Quality, Integrated Antiretroviral Therapy in Lilongwe, Malawi: Design Process and Pilot Implementation.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- The Vinyasa Tool for mHealth Solutions: Supporting Human-Centered Design in Nascent Digital Health Ecosystems.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- Lessons from digital technology-enabled health interventions implemented during the coronavirus pandemic to improve maternal and birth outcomes: a global scoping review.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Article
- Article
- A mixed-method study exploring experiences, perceptions, and acceptability of using a safe delivery mHealth application in two district hospitals in Rwanda.BMC nursing · 2022Article
- A scoping review of the use of e-learning and e-consultation for healthcare workers in low- and middle-income countries and their potential complementarity.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionMaternal health and the performance of health workers is a key concern in low- and middle-income countries. Mobile health technologies are reportedly able to improve workers' performance. However,
methodsGuided by established guidelines, a realist review was conducted. Five databases were searched for relevant English language articles published between 2009 and 2016. A three-stage framework was developed and populated with explanatory configurations of Intervention-Context-Actors-Mechanism-Outcome. Articles were analyzed retroductively, with identified factors grouped into meaningful clusters.
resultsOf 1254 records identified, 23 articles representing 16 studies were retained. Four main mechanisms were identified: usability and empowerment explaining mobile health adoption, third-party recognition explaining mobile health utilization, and empowerment of health workers explaining improved competence. Evidence was skewed toward the adoption and utilization stage of the framework, with weak explanations for performance outcomes.
conclusionsFindings suggest that health workers can be empowered to adopt and utilize mobile health in contexts where it is aligned to their needs, workload, training, and skills. In turn, mobile health can empower health workers with skills and confidence when it is perceived as useful and easy to use, in contexts that foster recognition from clients, peers, or supervisors.
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