| dc.description.abstract | There is a growing interest and need for more sophisticated health information systems and
the call for bringing health care to the patient when and where it is required. This is creating a
growing demand for timely information and services by both the patient and the health care
provider. However, there exists limited research into how this technology is accepted by the end
users. This research project was undertaken to identify the various factors that influence the user
acceptance of electronic health using mobile phone in Kenya. It sought to achieve this by gaining an
insight into the end user of e-health perception. Mobile Phones are a popular technology capable of
portable computing and data access. These features could be helpful for delivering health care
services.
Participants viewed a presentation introducing Mobile Phone services for interacting with
health professionals, taking health actions, delivering health information, and managing health care
services. Afterwards, semi-structured interviews inquired about their perceptions and acceptance of
the technology.
A qualitative methodology was used for this project. Forty adult health consumers who had
chronic health conditions with experience in health services delivered through information
technology, or had not. Each participant's perception of e-health technology was discussed using a
questionnaire via a semi-structured interview. The interviews were then qualitatively analyzed.
All participants intended to use the technology: thirty were ready to adopt immediately, while
ten intended to adopt later upon the need or when particular conditions were met. Among all
respondents, sixteen were interested in adopting a selection of the services only. Several factors
emerged shaped their motivation to adopt the technology considering their health status and health
environment, their personality, and the perceived helpfulness of the technology. Helpfulness was
determined by their positive and negative perceptions of the technology usability and safety.
Participants had positive view of the technology support for healthy behaviors, foster quality and
efficiency of care. The negative perceptions were concerns that the technology requires immense
resources, skills, stressful to use and neglects the social dimension of health care. Suggestion for
safe, responsive, and inclusive mobile health systems was recommended. Implementation of Mobile
Phone health services should respond to health consumers' interests and concerns. The results of
this study confirm that users' perceptions are significantly associated with their motivation to use
Mobile Phones for health services. Perceived ease of use was found to have significant effects on
users motivations. | en |
