Matching Task and Technology Characteristics to Predict mHealth Tool Use and User Performance - A Study of Community Health Workers in the Kenyan Context

Abstract

Equipping Community Health Workers (CHWs) in resource-constrained settings with mobile-health or ‘mHealth’ tools has the potential to improve healthcare service delivery. mHealth tool functionality must however match CHW task needs before these tools are likely to have any significant impacts on CHW performance. This paper contributes by drawing on Task-Technology Fit theory to test the extent to which a match between CHW tasks and mHealth technology characteristics influences the performance of 201 CHWs using an mHealth tool in the counties of Siaya, Nandi, and Kilifi in Kenya. Results showed that the interaction of paired task and technology characteristics did not always impact mHealth tool use and user performance in the manner expected. When mHealth tool functions matched the task interdependence and information dependency needs of the CHWs then CHW performance increased but CHW performance decreased for some CHWs when mHealth functionality for time criticality and mobility was high. Moreover, while information dependency had an independent positive effect on mHealth tool use, CHWs came to depend less on the mHealth tool to support time criticality, interdependence, and mobility needs when functional support was high. These findings have implications for the design and deployment of mHealth tools.