Adoption and Use of Mobile Phones for Maternal Healthcare Service Delivery

Abstract

Use of mobile phones has the potential to transform maternal healthcare delivery in Uganda, with associated benefits of educating women on pregnancy, monitoring maternal, child progress and post-delivery support. Despite the benefits, user adoption of mobile phone technology for maternal healthcare remains low. There is a lack of understanding of the factors that affect the use of mobile phones in maternal healthcare practice. This paper reports on a study that aimed to determine factors deemed important for the adoption and use of mobile phone technology by healthcare professionals. The study used a questionnaire based field study to determine these factors. The study was carried out with the healthcare professionals working in the maternal sections in selected Health Centers in Wakiso district in Uganda. The results of the study indicate that perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, social influence, facilitating conditions, perceived value, workflow practices are important factors for the adoption and use of mobile phones in maternal healthcare practice.