Informal m-health: How are young people using mobile phones to bridge healthcare gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Informal m-health: How are young people using mobile phones to bridge healthcare gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa?
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DOI：
10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.07.033
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发表时间：
2015-10-01
影响因子：
5.4
通讯作者：
Milner, James
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Hampshire, Kate;Porter, Gina;Milner, James
非洲的通信“革命”使人们乐观地认为，移动电话可能有助于克服在资源贫乏的情况下提供医疗保健的基础设施障碍。然而，虽然正式的移动保健方案的覆盖面和范围仍然有限，但年轻人正在创造性地和战略性地使用移动电话，试图获得有效的保健服务。根据2012-2014年从加纳、马拉维和南非收集的4500多名年轻人（8-25岁）的定性和定量数据，本文记录了这些做法及其创造的新治疗机会，以及制约因素、突发事件和风险。我们认为，年轻人正在努力声称自己是一种数字媒介形式的治疗公民，但缺乏适当的资源、社会网络和技能（“数字资本”），再加上医疗保健服务的持续不足，可能会损害他们有效做到这一点的能力。最后，本文对改善这一现状提出了尝试性的建议。(C) 2015年作者。Elsevier Ltd.出版。这是一篇基于CC BY许可（http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/）的开放获取文章。
The African communications 'revolution' has generated optimism that mobile phones might help overcome infrastructural barriers to healthcare provision in resource-poor contexts. However, while formal m-health programmes remain limited in coverage and scope, young people are using mobile phones creatively and strategically in an attempt to secure effective healthcare. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data collected in 2012-2014 from over 4500 young people (aged 8-25 y) in Ghana, Malawi and South Africa, this paper documents these practices and the new therapeutic opportunities they create, alongside the constraints, contingencies and risks. We argue that young people are endeavouring to lay claim to a digitally-mediated form of therapeutic citizenship, but that a lack of appropriate resources, social networks and skills ('digital capital'), combined with ongoing shortcomings in healthcare delivery, can compromise their ability to do this effectively. The paper concludes by offering tentative suggestions for remedying this situation. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).