TY - JOUR
T1 - Use of mobile phones for rehabilitative services among prosthetics users in rural Acholi sub-region of northern Uganda
T2 - findings from a qualitative study
AU - Yagos, Walter Onen
AU - Olok, Geoffrey Tabo
AU - Moro, Emmanuel Ben
AU - Huck, Jonathan
AU - Nirmalan, Mahesh
N1 - Funding Information:
Participants in this study were sampled purposively based on their previous participation in the major limb loss (MLL) project that was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) in the United Kingdom and jointly implemented by Gulu University and Manchester University. In this project, 50 amputees spread across the 8 districts of the Acholi sub-region were fitted with new prosthetic devices between October and November 2019. We made prior telephone contacts with the coordinators to help mobilize the participants who were directed to the nearest health facility (hub). We called other participants directly to gather at the designated health facilities. This study targeted 20 prosthetics users from the districts of Nwoya, Amuru, Omoro, and Gulu. Sixteen (80%) reported to the designated hubs and were interviewed. We conducted the interviews on the 13th and 14th of December 2021. Each participant was given compensation of Uganda Shillings twenty thousand (about 6 USD) as a transport refund.
Funding Information:
This work was part of a follow-up assessment of the prosthetics users who previously participated in the major limb loss project supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) of the United Kingdom and jointly implemented by Gulu University and Manchester University. Ethical approval was obtained from Gulu University Research Ethics Committee with approval number GUREC-033-18. Participants were informed that joining the study assessment was voluntary and each of them contacted willingly accepted and verbal consent was obtained from each of them. All methods followed the Uganda National Guidelines for Research Involving Humans as Research Participants and the Declaration of Helsinki on research with vulnerable people.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/10/7
Y1 - 2022/10/7
N2 - BACKGROUND: Digital technologies such as mobile phones have shown potential as vital tools for use in healthcare and related services. However, little has been done to explore its use for prosthetics rehabilitative services, especially in the Acholi sub-region of northern Uganda. We address this gap by exploring ownership of the mobile phone, knowledge of the use of mobile phone applications, use of mobile phones for prosthetics rehabilitative services and challenges faced in using the mobile phones.METHODS: A case study design was used. We conducted semi-structured one-on-one interviews with 16 prosthetics users spread in the four districts of Nwoya, Amuru, Omoro, and Gulu of the Acholi sub-region of northern Uganda. We transcribed the data verbatim and explored the contents thematically to derive themes.RESULTS: More prosthetics users (63%) owned mobile phones compared to those without (37%). Many who owned and use mobile phones are knowledgeable about applications for calls and messaging (47%). Some prosthetics users are knowledgeable in mobile money applications (21%), call applications only (16%) and, others were able to use the internet (16%). Many of the prosthetics users in this study use mobile phones to seek information, mainly relating to the management of prosthetics and treatment of diseases. Many participants were positive about the benefits of the use of mobile phones for prosthetics rehabilitation and related services. Common challenges affecting the use of mobile phones include the expensive price of airtime, few places for charging mobile phones, lack of electricity and inadequate skills to operate a mobile phone.CONCLUSION: The use of mobile phones can break down barriers created by distance and allow effective communication linkages between prosthetics users and rehabilitation services. Our results suggest that some prosthetics users owned mobile phones and used them to seek information relating to prosthetics rehabilitation services. We believe that promoting the use of the mobile phone for prosthetic rehabilitative services among prosthetics users is necessary and should be considered for practical and policy discussion relating to its use for prosthetics rehabilitation in rural areas.
AB - BACKGROUND: Digital technologies such as mobile phones have shown potential as vital tools for use in healthcare and related services. However, little has been done to explore its use for prosthetics rehabilitative services, especially in the Acholi sub-region of northern Uganda. We address this gap by exploring ownership of the mobile phone, knowledge of the use of mobile phone applications, use of mobile phones for prosthetics rehabilitative services and challenges faced in using the mobile phones.METHODS: A case study design was used. We conducted semi-structured one-on-one interviews with 16 prosthetics users spread in the four districts of Nwoya, Amuru, Omoro, and Gulu of the Acholi sub-region of northern Uganda. We transcribed the data verbatim and explored the contents thematically to derive themes.RESULTS: More prosthetics users (63%) owned mobile phones compared to those without (37%). Many who owned and use mobile phones are knowledgeable about applications for calls and messaging (47%). Some prosthetics users are knowledgeable in mobile money applications (21%), call applications only (16%) and, others were able to use the internet (16%). Many of the prosthetics users in this study use mobile phones to seek information, mainly relating to the management of prosthetics and treatment of diseases. Many participants were positive about the benefits of the use of mobile phones for prosthetics rehabilitation and related services. Common challenges affecting the use of mobile phones include the expensive price of airtime, few places for charging mobile phones, lack of electricity and inadequate skills to operate a mobile phone.CONCLUSION: The use of mobile phones can break down barriers created by distance and allow effective communication linkages between prosthetics users and rehabilitation services. Our results suggest that some prosthetics users owned mobile phones and used them to seek information relating to prosthetics rehabilitation services. We believe that promoting the use of the mobile phone for prosthetic rehabilitative services among prosthetics users is necessary and should be considered for practical and policy discussion relating to its use for prosthetics rehabilitation in rural areas.
KW - Cell Phone
KW - Delivery of Health Care/methods
KW - Humans
KW - Qualitative Research
KW - Rural Population
KW - Uganda
U2 - 10.1186/s12911-022-02008-z
DO - 10.1186/s12911-022-02008-z
M3 - Article
C2 - 36207722
SN - 1472-6947
VL - 22
JO - BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making
JF - BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making
IS - 1
M1 - 263
ER -