TY - JOUR
T1 - Managing COVID-19 and health vulnerabilities
T2 - mHealth user experience, information quality and policy recommendations
AU - Blay, Karen Banahene
AU - Amankwaa, Ebenezer Forkuo
AU - Afolabi, Oluwasola O.D.
AU - Mensah, Peter
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2023 Liverpool University Press. All rights reserved.
PY - 2023/6
Y1 - 2023/6
N2 - The interplay between how people use mobile health (mHealth) technologies and its quality information for managing their health vulnerabilities in line with their protected characteristics remains unclear and underexplored. This paper examines the intersections between mHealth users’ experiences, information quality issues, and everyday health vulnerabilities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic by drawing on the theory of planned behaviour and technology acceptance. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with sixty-three participants across three cities: Accra, Lagos and London, to illustrate how barriers to mHealth adoption, and information quality issues, including security and privacy concerns, interact to shape the mHealth user experience. The findings show that key barriers to mHealth user experience and health information quality vary considerably across location and protected characteristics. The paper calls for inclusive and quality mHealth systems in managing health vulnerabilities towards assuring pandemic preparedness and response. By so doing, it contributes to scholarship on the interconnected need for quality information in the context of COVID-19, and highlights the policy implications for mHealth user experience and healthcare delivery.
AB - The interplay between how people use mobile health (mHealth) technologies and its quality information for managing their health vulnerabilities in line with their protected characteristics remains unclear and underexplored. This paper examines the intersections between mHealth users’ experiences, information quality issues, and everyday health vulnerabilities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic by drawing on the theory of planned behaviour and technology acceptance. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with sixty-three participants across three cities: Accra, Lagos and London, to illustrate how barriers to mHealth adoption, and information quality issues, including security and privacy concerns, interact to shape the mHealth user experience. The findings show that key barriers to mHealth user experience and health information quality vary considerably across location and protected characteristics. The paper calls for inclusive and quality mHealth systems in managing health vulnerabilities towards assuring pandemic preparedness and response. By so doing, it contributes to scholarship on the interconnected need for quality information in the context of COVID-19, and highlights the policy implications for mHealth user experience and healthcare delivery.
KW - COVID-19 pandemic
KW - health vulnerabilities
KW - healthcare access
KW - information quality
KW - mHealth
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85165556340&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3828/idpr.2023.6
DO - 10.3828/idpr.2023.6
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85165556340
SN - 1474-6743
VL - 45
SP - 249
EP - 272
JO - International Development Planning Review
JF - International Development Planning Review
IS - 3
ER -