Development of a targeted client communication intervention to women using an electronic maternal and child health registry: a qualitative study

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Background

Targeted client communication (TCC) using text messages can inform, motivate and remind pregnant and postpartum women of timely utilization of care. The mixed results of the effectiveness of TCC interventions points to the importance of theory based interventions that are co-design with users. The aim of this paper is to describe the planning, development, and evaluation of a theory led TCC intervention, tailored to pregnant and postpartum women and automated from the Palestinian electronic maternal and child health registry.

Methods

We used the Health Belief Model to develop interview guides to explore women’s perceptions of antenatal care (ANC), with a focus on high-risk pregnancy conditions (anemia, hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, gestational diabetes mellitus, and fetal growth restriction), and untimely ANC attendance, issues predefined by a national expert panel as being of high interest. We performed 18 in-depth interviews with women, and eight with healthcare providers in public primary healthcare clinics in the West Bank and Gaza. Grounding on the results of the in-depth interviews, we used concepts from the Model of Actionable Feedback, social nudging and Enhanced Active Choice to compose the TCC content to be sent as text messages. We assessed the acceptability and understandability of the draft text messages through unstructured interviews with local health promotion experts, healthcare providers, and pregnant women.

Results

We found low awareness of the importance of timely attendance to ANC, and the benefits of ANC for pregnancy outcomes. We identified knowledge gaps and beliefs in the domains of low awareness of susceptibility to, and severity of, anemia, hypertension, and diabetes complications in pregnancy. To increase the utilization of ANC and bridge the identified gaps, we iteratively composed actionable text messages with users, using recommended message framing models. We developed algorithms to trigger tailored text messages with higher intensity for women with a higher risk profile documented in the electronic health registry.

Conclusions

We developed an optimized TCC intervention underpinned by behavior change theory and concepts, and co-designed with users following an iterative process. The electronic maternal and child health registry can serve as a unique platform for TCC interventions using text messages.

Related collections

Most cited references 26

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Is Open Access

mHealth innovations as health system strengthening tools: 12 common applications and a visual framework

Alain Labrique, Lavanya Vasudevan, Erica Kochi … (2013)

The rapid proliferation of mHealth projects—albeit mainly pilot efforts—has generated considerable enthusiasm among governments, donors, and implementers of health programs. 1 In many instances, these pilot projects have demonstrated conceptually how mHealth can alleviate specific health system constraints that hinder effective coverage of health interventions. Large-scale implementation or integration of these mHealth innovations into health programs has been limited, however, by a shortage of empirical evidence supporting their value in terms of cost, performance, and health outcomes. 1 - 4 Governments in low- and middle-income countries face numerous challenges and competing priorities, impeding their ability to adopt innovations. 2 Thus, they need robust, credible evidence about mHealth projects in order to consider mHealth alongside essential health interventions, and guidance about which mHealth solutions they should consider to achieve broader health system goals. 2 Their tolerance for system instability or failure can be low, even when the status quo may be equally, or more, unreliable. Current larger-scale effectiveness and implementation research initiatives are working to address the evidence gaps and to demonstrate the impact of mHealth investments on health system targets. 1 Other efforts are underway to synthesize such findings. 5 MHEALTH AS A HEALTH SYSTEMS STRENGTHENING TOOL Recent mHealth reviews have proposed that innovators focus on the public health principles underlying mHealth initiatives, rather than on specific mHealth technologies. 6 International agencies and research organizations have also endeavored to frame mHealth interventions within the broader context of health system goals or health outcomes. 2 The term “health system” includes all activities in which the primary purpose is to promote, restore, or maintain health. 7 Some elements of a framework for evaluating health systems performance by relating the goals of the health system to its essential functions have been proposed previously, which we believe can serve as a model for articulating and justifying mHealth initiatives and investments. 7 Applying a health systems lens to the evaluation of mHealth initiatives requires different indicators and methodologies, shifting the assessment from whether the mHealth initiative “works” to process evaluation or proxy indicators of the health outcome(s) of interest. This new way of thinking would facilitate selection of mHealth tools that are appropriate for identified challenges. In other words, it would drive people to first identify the key obstacles, or constraints, to delivering proven health interventions effectively, and to then apply appropriate mHealth strategies that could overcome these health system constraints. 8 Presenting mHealth as a range of tools for overcoming known health system constraints, as a health systems “catalyst,” may also improve communication between mHealth innovators and health program implementers. Communicating mHealth technologies as tools that can enhance delivery of life-saving interventions through improvements in health systems performance, such as coverage, quality, equity, or efficiency, will resonate with health decision-makers. 7 Hence, rather than being perceived as siloed, stand-alone solutions, mHealth strategies should be viewed as integrable systems that should fit into existing health system functions and complement the health system goals of: health service provision; a well-performing health workforce; a functioning health information system; cost-effective use of medical products, vaccines, and technologies; and accountability and governance. 9 mHealth should be integrated into existing health system functions, rather than as stand-alone solutions. A SHARED FRAMEWORK TO EXPLAIN MHEALTH INNOVATIONS The absence of a shared language and approach to describe mHealth interventions will continue to hinder efforts to identify, catalog, and synthesize evidence across this complex landscape. The lack of a common framework also makes it hard to explain mHealth innovations to mainstream health-sector stakeholders. mHealth researchers and implementers at the World Health Organization (WHO), the Johns Hopkins University Global mHealth Initiative, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and frog Design have jointly developed the “mHealth and ICT Framework” to describe mHealth innovations in the reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) field, in which mobile health technologies have been broadly implemented over the last decade across the developing world. The framework builds on prior efforts to describe types and uses of mHealth generally, such as in the WHO global survey on eHealth 2 and in the mHealth Alliance's typology for mHealth services in the maternal and newborn health field. 10 These previous efforts, however, have focused more explicitly on the type of actor (client, provider, or health system) and location of the mHealth activity (community, facility, or health information system). Some of these descriptions provide details about the use of specific mobile functions (such as toll-free help lines) to accomplish particular health goals, although other functions could have been used to accomplish the same goals and, over time, the functions described could be superseded by newer technologies. Furthermore, their classification approaches have not provided stakeholders with the tools to enable them to understand the diverse ways in which specific mobile functions could be employed for a particular health purpose. Our framework is constructed around standard health system goals and places intended users and beneficiaries in central focus, against the context of the proposed mHealth service package (Figure 1). By describing a specific mHealth strategy or approach, the framework visually depicts the when, for whom, what is being done to alleviate which constraints, and the how of the strategy. The framework comprises 2 key components: A place to depict the specifics of the mHealth intervention, described as one or more common mHealth or information and communications technology (ICT) applications used to target specific health system challenges or constraints within specific areas of the RMNCH continuum of care (Figure 1, upper section). A visual depiction of mHealth implementation through the concept of “touch points,” or points of contact, which describe the specific mHealth interactions across health system actors (for example, clients, providers), locations (such as clinics or hospitals), and timings of interactions and data exchange (Figure 1, lower section). Figure 1. The mHealth and ICT Framework for RMNCH Abbreviations: CHW, community health worker; ICT, information and communications technology; PMTCT, prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV; RMNCH, reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health. 12 COMMON MHEALTH AND ICT APPLICATIONS The first part of the framework aims to address a previously identified challenge in mHealth: to systematically describe the constituent parts of an mHealth strategy or platform. 11 To do this, we define relationships between common applications of mHealth and ICT and the health systems constraints that they address. 2 , 12 - 13 Our list of 12 common mHealth applications has been vetted, through multiple iterations, by a wide group of mHealth stakeholders and thought leaders, ranging from academic researchers to program and policy implementers. Although a few mHealth projects deploy a single application, most comprise a package of 2 or more applications (Figure 2). In addition, mHealth projects employ 1 or more mobile phone functions—such as short message service (SMS), interactive voice response (IVR)—to accomplish the common applications (Table 1). Figure 2. Twelve Common mHealth and ICT Applications Table 1. Examples of Mobile Phone Functions Used in Common mHealth and ICT Applications Common mHealth and ICT Applications Examples of Mobile Phone Functions 1 Client education and behavior change communication (BCC) • Short Message Service (SMS) • Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) • Interactive Voice Response (IVR) • Voice communication/Audio clips • Video clips • Images 2 Sensors and point-of-care diagnostics • Mobile phone camera • Tethered accessory sensors, devices • Built-in accelerometer 3 Registries and vital events tracking • Short Message Service (SMS) • Voice communication • Digital forms 4 Data collection and reporting • Short Message Service (SMS) • Digital forms • Voice communication 5 Electronic health records • Digital forms • Mobile web (WAP/GPRS) 6 Electronic decision support (information, protocols, algorithms, checklists) • Mobile web (WAP/GPRS) • Stored information “apps” • Interactive Voice Response (IVR) 7 Provider-to-provider communication (user groups, consultation) • Short Message Service (SMS) • Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) • Mobile phone camera 8 Provider work planning and scheduling • Interactive electronic client lists • Short Message Service (SMS) alerts • Mobile phone calendar 9 Provider training and education • Short Message Service (SMS) • Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) • Interactive Voice Response (IVR) • Voice communication • Audio or video clips, images 10 Human resource management • Web-based performance dashboards • Global Positioning Service (GPS) • Voice communication • Short Message Service (SMS) 11 Supply chain management • Web-based supply dashboards • Global Positioning Service (GPS) • Digital forms • Short Message Service (SMS) 12 Financial transactions and incentives • Mobile money transfers and banking services • Transfer of airtime minutes Abbreviations: GPRS, General Packet Radio Service; WAP, Wireless Application Protocol. 1. Client Education and Behavior Change Communication This series of mHealth strategies focuses largely on the client, offering a novel channel to deliver content intended to improve people's knowledge, modify their attitudes, and change their behavior. Targeted, timely health education and actionable health information—delivered through SMS, IVR, audio, and/or videos that engage 1 or more actors (such as a pregnant woman, a husband, family, community)—influences health behaviors, such as adherence to medication or use of health services. 3 , 14 The Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA) is an example of an mHealth service package that provides gestational age-appropriate health information to pregnant women and new mothers on their family's mobile phone. 15 Most mHealth interventions in this category capitalize on people's ubiquitous access to mobile phones to increase their exposure to, and reinforce, health messages. In some instances, these types of interventions also enable clients to seek more information based on their interest in a particular message—for example, through a higher level of engagement with a call-center counselor. 4 Other mHealth interventions use mobile functions such as voice, video or audio clips, and images to enhance the effectiveness of in-person counseling, which is of particular value among low-literacy populations. Such examples include the BBC World Trust Mobile Kunji project 16 and Dimagi's CommCare Health Worker systems. 17 - 18 2. Sensors and Point-of-Care Diagnostics Harnessing the inherent computing power of mobile phones or linking mobile phones to a connected, but independent, external device can facilitate remote monitoring of clients, extending the reach of health facilities into the community and into clients' homes. Novel sensors and technologies are being developed to conduct, store, transmit, and evaluate diagnostic tests through mobile phones, from relatively simple tests, such as blood glucose measurements for diabetes management, to sophisticated assays, such as electrocardiograms (ECGs), in situations where the patient and provider are far removed from one another. These technologies also can store frequent longitudinal measures for later review during a patient-provider visit and monitor a patient's vital signs continuously and automatically, triggering a response when the device detects anomalous signals. Examples of such mHealth initiatives include the “ubiquitous health care” service in South Korea 19 that uses sensor technology to monitor patient health remotely and AliveCor, 20 a clinical grade, 2-lead ECG running on a mobile phone, recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), that allows physicians to view and assess cardiac health at the point-of-care. These kinds of interventions are increasingly common in high-income settings but are less common in resource-limited contexts. New tests are being developed and evaluated to allow diagnostics to be conducted through mobile phones, from simple blood glucose tests to sophisticated electrocardiograms. 3. Registries and Vital Events Tracking Mobile phone-based registration systems facilitate the identification and enumeration of eligible clients for specific services, not only to increase accountability of programs for providing complete and timely care but also to understand and overcome disparities in health outcomes. 21 These are most often used for registering pregnancy and birth but also can be used for tracking individuals with specific health conditions, by age groups or other characteristics. Tracking vital events (births and deaths) supports the maintenance of population registries and determination of key development indicators, such as maternal and neonatal mortality. Such mobile registries issue and track unique identifiers and common indicators, link to electronic medical records, and enable longitudinal population information systems and health reporting. One such registry is the Mother and Child Tracking System (MCTS) in India 22 that registers pregnant women, using customized mobile phone-based applications, to help strengthen accountability for eligible clients to receive all scheduled health services (for example, 3–4 antenatal checkups, postnatal visits, and childhood vaccinations); both frontline health workers and their clients receive SMS reminders about scheduled services. Another example is UNICEF's birth registration system in Uganda, which uses RapidSMS to maintain a central electronic database of new births, updated using information transmitted via SMS, to overcome obstacles with the previously inefficient paper-based system. 23 - 24 4. Data Collection and Reporting Among the earliest global mHealth projects were those that allowed frontline workers and health systems to move from paper-based systems of ledgers, rosters, and aggregated reports to the near-instantaneous reporting of survey or patient data. Aggregation of information can occur at the server to analyze health system or disease statistics, by time, geographic area, or worker. In addition to optimizing the primary research or program monitoring and evaluation efforts of researchers, these types of mHealth initiatives reduce the turnaround time for reporting district-, local-, state-, or national-level data, which is useful for supervisors and policy makers. Countries such as Bangladesh, Rwanda, and Uganda are developing and enforcing national health information technology policies to improve the standardization and interoperability of public health data collection systems across government agencies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Among the earliest mHealth projects were those that allowed collection of survey or patient data through mobile phones. Platforms commonly used to develop data collection systems include Open Data Kit (ODK) and FrontlineSMS. 25 - 26 The Formhub platform makes it easy for developers to use Microsoft Excel to create electronic forms, which can be deployed via Web forms or Android phones, with sophisticated server-side facilities for data aggregation, sharing, and visualization. 27 A large number of commercial systems exist for the range of mobile operating systems (iOS, Android, HTML5), and they often present user-friendly interfaces, such as Magpi, 28 that allow people to easily design mobile questionnaires. In Formhub and Magpi, forms can be shared with mobile data collectors and the data visualized in real time on a map, as the data are collected. National-level systems have also been developed for widespread use, such as the open-source District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2) system, currently used in a number of countries for routine health collection and reporting. 29 In addition to being integrated into national health information systems, DHIS2 accepts data from authorized mobile devices and can allow management of data at the individual (such as district) or aggregate (national) levels. 29 5. Electronic Health Records Electronic health records (EHRs) used to be connected only to the facilities they served, allowing clinical staff to access patient records through fixed desktop computers. But the advent of mHealth has redefined the boundaries of the EHR; now, health workers can electronically register the services they provide and submit point-of-care test results through mHealth systems to update patient histories from the field. Rural health workers at the point-of-care (for example, in rural clinics or in the patient's home) can access and contribute to longitudinal health records, allowing continuity of care that was previously impossible in non-hospital-based settings. 30 Server-side algorithms to identify care gaps or trends in key indicators, such as weight loss or blood-glucose fluctuations, shift the onerous burden of identifying patterns and generating cues-to-action away from human reviewers. OpenMRS, a popular mHealth-enhanced EHR, allows frontline health workers to access information from a patient's health record using a mobile device and to contribute information into the health record—for example, about field-based tuberculosis (TB) treatment. 30 Other systems, such as RapidSMS or ChildCount+, might not be linked to a clinical file but still can maintain longitudinal client histories, such as antenatal care documentation, infant and child growth records, and digital vaccine records. 23 , 31 - 32 6. Electronic Decision Support: Information, Protocols, Algorithms, Checklists Ensuring providers' adherence to protocols is a paramount challenge to implementing complex care guidelines. In particular, shifting tasks, such as screening responsibilities, from clinicians to frontline health workers often entails adapting procedures designed for clinical workers to cadres with limited formal training. mHealth initiatives that incorporate point-of-care decision support tools with automated algorithm- or rule-based instructions help ensure quality of care in these task-shifting scenarios by prompting frontline health workers to follow defined guidelines. Point-of-care decision support tools through mobile phones can help ensure quality of care. Electronic decision support tools also can be used to identify and prioritize high-risk clients for health care, targeting interventions in resource-limited contexts. e-IMCI (electronic-Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses), for example, provides community health workers with mobile phone-based, step-by-step support to triage and treat children according to WHO protocols for the diagnosis and treatment of common childhood diseases. 33 - 34 In addition, several groups are developing mobile phone-based checklists to help reduce clinical errors or to ensure quality of care at the point of service delivery. 35 7. Provider-to-Provider Communication: User Groups, Consultation Voice communication—one of the simplest technical functions of mobile phones—is among the most transformative applications in an mHealth service package, allowing providers to communicate with one another or across hierarchies of technical expertise. Once a key feature of telemedicine strategies, provider-to-provider communication by mobile phone can be used to coordinate care and provide expert assistance to health staff, when and where it is needed. Furthermore, communication is not limited to voice only; mobile phones allow the exchange of images or even sounds (for example, through digital auscultation, extending the reach of the traditional stethoscope) for immediate remote consultation. Providers can use simple voice communication through mobile phones to coordinate care and provide expert assistance. Current examples of provider-to-provider communication include the establishment of “Closed User Group” networks in Ghana, Liberia, and Tanzania by the NGO Switchboard, by which members of each mobile phone group can communicate with one another at heavily discounted rates, or for free. 36 - 37 In Nigeria, an mHealth feedback loop between rural clinics and diagnostic laboratories reduces the turnaround time between HIV testing and result reporting to facilitate prompt care and referral. 38 8. Provider Work Planning and Scheduling Work planning and scheduling tools help keep health care workers informed through active reminders of upcoming or due/overdue services, and they promote accountability by prioritizing provider follow-up. In low-resource settings, there often is a shortage of providers, making it a challenge to provide systematic population follow-up using traditional paper-based methods. mHealth systems can facilitate the scheduling of individuals listed in population registries (described in application number 3) for household-based outreach visits. Examples of this application include scheduling antenatal and postnatal care visits; alerting providers or supervisors about missed vaccinations or reduced adherence to medication regimens; and following up about medical procedures, such as circumcision or long-acting and permanent family planning methods. Provider work planning tools are common in many mHealth service packages, such as the scheduling functions of TxtAlert 39 and the MoTech “Mobile Midwife Service” that alerts nurses about clients who are due or overdue for care, to prevent missed appointments and delays in service provision. 40 9. Provider Training and Education Continuing medical education has been a mainstay of quality of care in high-income settings. Now, mobile devices are being used to provide continued training support to frontline and remote providers, through access to educational videos, informational messages, and interactive exercises that reinforce skills provided during in-person training. They also allow for continued clinical education and skills monitoring—for example, through quizzes and case-based learning. Applications for provider training include eMOCHA, 41 - 42 a platform that allows frontline health workers in rural Uganda to select streaming video content as part of continuing education. eMOCHA recently released “TB Detect,” a free application for Android devices in the Google Play Store, allowing providers to access continually updated educational content about tuberculosis prevention, detection, and care. 10. Human Resource Management Community health workers often work among rural populations, with only sporadic contact with supervisory staff. Web-based dashboards allow supervisors to track the performance of community health workers individually or at the district/regional/national level, either by noting the volume of digital productivity or by real-time GPS tracking of workers as they perform their field activities. This enables supportive supervision to those workers who may be lagging in their performance, while also enabling the recognition and reward of exceptional field staff. These approaches are embedded within a number of mHealth service packages, such as Rwanda's mUbuzima, which helps supervisors monitor community health worker performance and provide performance-based incentives, 43 - 44 and UNICEF's RapidSMS in Rwanda, which enables supervisors to monitor exchange of SMS messages between community health workers and a central server, thereby measuring service accountability and responsiveness of community health workers. 24 , 45 11. Supply Chain Management mHealth tools to track and manage stocks and supplies of essential commodities have received significant global attention. Relatively simple technologies that allow remote clinics or pharmacies to report daily stock levels of drugs and supplies, or to request additional materials electronically, have been implemented in a number of countries. Many countries use mHealth tools to track and manage stocks of health commodities. In Tanzania, at least 130 clinics are using the SMS for Life mHealth supply chain system to prevent stockouts of essential malaria drugs. 46 - 48 Pharmacists and other service providers are trained to send their district-level supervisors a structured text message at the end of each week to report stock levels of key commodities including anti-malarials. The supervisors can then take necessary actions to redistribute supplies, circumventing a potential crisis. In addition, a number of projects have developed mHealth strategies to reduce the risk of purchasing counterfeit drugs in countries where this is a major public health threat. 49 Companies such as Sproxil have partnered with drug manufacturers to provide mHealth authentication services to the purchasing public. 49 These strategies may help improve supply chain transparency and bolster a system's ability to be proactive and responsive to supply needs, with district or national-level visibility of performance. 12. Financial Transactions and Incentives mHealth and mFinance are converging rapidly in the domain of financial transactions to pay for health care, supplies, or drugs, or to make demand- or supply-side incentive schemes easier to deploy and scale. These strategies focus on decreasing financial barriers to care for clients, and they are testing novel ways of motivating providers to adhere to guidelines and/or provide higher quality care. Mobile financial transactions are becoming increasingly common. For example, a single African network operator, MTN, estimated having 7.3 million mobile money clients in mid-2012. 50 Thus, providing incentives to clients to use particular areas of health services will be increasingly attractive (for example, for institutional deliveries or vaccines, vouchers to subsidize health services, universal health insurance schemes, and mobile banking for access to resources for health services 51 ). Mobile-based cash vouchers have also been used where mobile money is not standard, as illustrated by the use of conditional cash transfers in Pakistan to provide families with an incentive to immunize their infants. 52 - 53 PLACING THE 12 APPLICATIONS WITHIN THE RMNCH FRAMEWORK One illustration of the application of component parts of our framework is the display of mHealth projects working within the RMNCH continuum to improve health systems functions. Specifically, the common mHealth applications capture the core uses of mobile technology and their contribution toward meeting health system needs. Health system challenges and constraints in the framework embrace and draw from concepts articulated in the WHO building blocks of health systems (service delivery, health workforce, health information systems, access to essential medicines, financing, and leadership/governance). 54 The framework's intended audience ranges from mHealth projects—to help locate their work within a broader context of mHealth in the RMNCH landscape—to stakeholders in government, implementation, or donor communities. In brief, the framework begins with the RMNCH continuum of care for women of reproductive age and their children to establish “when” during the reproductive life cycle the mHealth project will focus. 55 In other words, it identifies the beneficiary targets of the mHealth strategy, such as adolescents or pregnant women, as well as the intended users of the system, such as community health workers or district supervisors. Next, the framework identifies which RMNCH essential interventions (including preventive and curative care for improved maternal and child health outcomes) the mHealth approach will target, such as pregnancy registration or management of childhood illnesses. 56 - 57 This helps maintain focus on the needs of the health system and on the intervention that the mHealth approach is facilitating, 7 rather than on the technology being used. Rather than focus on technology, our new mHealth framework places emphasis on addressing health system needs. The common mHealth and ICT applications used by the project are indicated by horizontal, colored bars running across the RMNCH continuum of care, from adolescence to pregnancy and birth to childhood. The framework also incorporates space (to the right of the colored bars) to succinctly describe the specific health system constraints that the project is addressing (for example, “delayed reporting of events”). The framework includes categories of common health system challenges, such as information, availability, and cost. Finally, the “touch points” layer in the lower portion of the framework allows for mapping the mHealth-facilitated interactions among health system actors (for example, client, provider, manager, hospital, national health system). 58 See Figure 3 for an illustrative example of the fictional “Project Vaccinate.” Figure 3. Sample Application of the mHealth and ICT Framework for RMNCH Abbreviations: CHW, community health worker; ICT, information and communications technology; RMNCH, reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health. The fictional “Project Vaccinate” is an mHealth system that integrates 5 of the 12 common mHealth applications to identify newborns and support families and community health workers in ensuring timely and complete vaccination. A detailed description of the components and use of the framework are beyond the scope of this commentary. In the near future, we will provide an updated framework and user guide as web-based, online tools that mHealth innovators and other stakeholders can use. Thus, the framework would serve to map and catalog mHealth service packages used across the RMNCH continuum, describing their work using a common language. As mHealth stakeholders begin to use this tool and employ this common language to describe their mHealth innovations, we expect to foster improved understanding between mHealth innovators and mainstream health system program and policy planners. This framework not only helps individual projects articulate their mHealth strategies through a shared tool but also facilitates identification of gaps in innovation, solutions, and implementation activity by overlaying multiple projects onto a single visualization. Any remaining blank spaces in the central area of the framework will signal areas of the continuum where future mHealth attention and investment may be warranted. This would also help identify common mHealth applications not yet utilized to target particular health system constraints. The new mHealth framework will help identify gaps in mHealth innovation. Ultimately, we hope these initial efforts at building consensus around a common taxonomy and framework will help overcome misgivings that mHealth innovations are the new “verticals” of this decade. Innovations in this space should be viewed not as independent, disconnected strategies but as vehicles to overcome persistent health system constraints. mHealth applications in this framework largely serve to catalyze the effective coverage of proven health interventions. Although shared frameworks are critical to communicating value, continued efforts to evaluate and generate evidence of mHealth impact are also necessary to sustain growth and mainstreaming of these solutions. These efforts should be complementary to improving the quality of deployments through end-user engagement, stakeholder inclusion, and designing for scale. 59

0 comments Cited 236 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Is Open Access

Why Do Women Not Use Antenatal Services in Low- and Middle-Income Countries? A Meta-Synthesis of Qualitative Studies

Kenneth Finlayson, Soo Downe (2013)

Introduction Recent estimates of global maternal mortality ratios (MMRs) suggest a substantial decline in recent years [1],[2]. However, current rates of decline will still fall well short of meeting Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG 5): reducing maternal mortality by 75% by 2015 [3]. Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), especially in sub-Saharan Africa, the rate of decline in MMR is less than 1% per year, and in some countries (e.g., South Africa, Nigeria, Mozambique, and Swaziland) rates even appear to be increasing [1],[4]. This slow rate of progress is starkly highlighted in the most recent “Countdown to 2015” report, which found that only nine of the 74 countries with the highest MMRs in the world were on target to achieve MDG 5 [5]. WHO reports and experts in the field consistently highlight the lack of access to local, adequately resourced health care facilities as an important reason for the relatively slow rate of progress towards achieving MDG 5 [6],[7]. Access includes ensuring comprehensive antenatal care coverage for all pregnant women. Recent estimates indicate that the number of women in LMICs attending at least one antenatal appointment increased from 64% in 1990 to 81% in 2009, and those attending four or more times rose from 35% to 51% over the same period [2]. However, major disparities exist within and between continents, between countries, and between urban and rural populations [8]. As with the MMR figures, the rate of progress is slowest in sub-Saharan Africa, where antenatal coverage rates have improved slightly during the last two decades, but the number of women visiting four or more times has remained static, at about 44% [2]. Although the correlation between “inadequate” antenatal care and high maternal mortality is complicated and contentious, it is widely accepted that antenatal care presents opportunities to identify pregnancy risks and, in a broader sense, to monitor and support the general health care of women who may be susceptible to a range of potentially fatal pathologies including HIV, anaemia, malnutrition, tuberculosis, and malaria [5]–[9]. Global implementation of strategies designed to encourage antenatal attendance tend to be based on the assumption that if high-quality services are provided, people will come to them. However, data from quantitative population-level studies suggest that this is not necessarily the case for some groups of pregnant women. Well-documented socio-demographic data indicate that women from relatively poor backgrounds, living in rural areas, and/or with low levels of education are less likely to access antenatal services, even if they are provided [10]–[12]. Other factors, including having a husband with a low level of education, living a long distance from a clinic, and having high parity, have also been identified as barriers [13]–[17]. Similar factors emerge in reviews of barriers to antenatal care in developed countries [18]–[21], which suggests that the issues for women who remain marginalised at local, national, and global levels are much the same. Based on the results of a WHO antenatal care randomised trial [22], the standard measure of adequate antenatal care delivery is a minimum of four antenatal visits (with the first occurring during the first trimester) for a woman and her foetus, if they are judged to be healthy following a standard risk assessment [23]. Although some authorities, e.g., the US Agency for International Development, have noted the need for woman-centred, individualised, culturally specific programmes [24], the recent BMJ Best Practice guidance on routine antenatal care provision lists a wide range of routine screening, testing, and health education topics, with little emphasis on individual concerns and circumstances [25]. Evidence equating risk-focused, low-frequency antenatal care with clinical outcomes in LMICs is limited, but a recent Cochrane review found that population groups in LMICs receiving fewer antenatal visits (4–6) had an increased risk of perinatal mortality and, in particular, stillbirth [26]. The author of a WHO commentary on this review hypothesizes that the excess perinatal loss for women in LMIC settings may be due to inadequate local tailoring of risk assessment, low numbers of staff, and inadequate training [27]. The WHO manual on antenatal care [23] does not specify how antenatal care should be funded, the nature and relevance of staff attitude and training, or what resources should be available at which level of care provision. However, tacit assumptions are likely to include that staff are available and have high levels of communication and interpersonal skills, and that the programme is affordable, otherwise it would be unlikely to function. Despite the findings of the review, and speculation about the components and the effectiveness of the WHO programme, it remains the standard for adequate antenatal care provision. Given the potential significance of context in mediating whether women access antenatal care, qualitative studies may provide fresh insights into pertinent issues in specific settings. In terms of LMICs, such studies suggest that some women do not attend antenatal facilities because of deeply held cultural beliefs and/or tribal traditions surrounding the nature of pregnancy and childbirth [28],[29]. Qualitative studies can also illuminate the effect of local policies and incentives, such as the use of antenatal clinic cards to guarantee intra-partum hospital access—a controversial practice in a number of African countries because of the potential for discrimination against women who don't have any record of antenatal clinic attendance [30]. However, because of the highly contextualised nature of individual qualitative studies, policy makers often overlook them, and their findings remain outside of global, national, and local health care strategies [31]. Systematic review and synthesis of qualitative studies can generate hypotheses about how successful programmes work, and why unsuccessful programmes fail certain individuals and groups [32]. To address the latter question with regards to inadequate accessing of antenatal care, we planned to locate, analyse, and synthesise qualitative studies exploring the views, beliefs, and experiences of women from LMICs who did not access antenatal care at all, or accessed it inadequately, according to the WHO definition given above. The intention was to develop hypotheses about lack of attendance that could inform policy development, based on a new understanding of why some women still don't access antenatal care, even when it is made available. Qualitative Meta-Synthesis Methodology The emphasis in meta-synthesis is on rigorous study selection and the careful interpretation of data across studies, contexts, and populations. This combination and interpretation of findings from a number of systematically selected studies in a particular subject area shares methodological similarities with its quantitative equivalent, meta-analysis. When meta-synthesis is used to explain or interpret existing knowledge, e.g., alongside meta-analysis, it can be aggregative and deductive [32]. However, when it is exploring fields where there is little prior information, it is undertaken as an inductive method, designed to generate theoretical insights and hypotheses that can be tested in future research [32]. In the latter case, the classic approach is meta-ethnography [33]. As with qualitative research, the direct findings of meta-synthesis are not usually generalisable, but the theoretical insights or hypotheses arising from the synthesis of the included studies should be transferable to other similar settings and contexts [34]–[36]. In meta-synthesis, as in grounded theory, the comprehensiveness of the analysis is determined by the concept of theoretical saturation. Theoretical saturation is reached when new studies do not change the emerging theory or hypothesis, and when a systematic search for disconfirming cases in all the included studies reinforces the theoretical insights. Given the scope and rigour of meta-synthesis reviews, there is greater potential for them to inform practice, influence policy, and underpin strategy than for individual qualitative studies [37],[38]. Methods Search Strategy and Selection Criteria The search strategy was designed to locate qualitative studies exploring the antenatal care experiences, attitudes, and/or beliefs of women from LMICs who had chosen to access antenatal care late (after 12 wk gestation), infrequently (less than four times), or not at all [7]. We searched for any studies that might include qualitative data, including survey-based studies with open-ended written responses, mixed methods studies, focus groups, and one-to-one interviews. No language restriction was imposed. All electronic searches used keywords covering the main search domains including “antenatal”, “prenatal”, “maternity”, “pregnancy”, “care”, “service”, “provision”, “access”, and “attendance”. The searches were conducted across a range of medical, sociological, and psychological databases (MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, AMED [Allied and Complementary Medicine Database], BNI [British Nursing Index], CINAHL [Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature], PsycINFO, Wilson Social Science Abstracts), as well as continent-specific databases such as Latindex (Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde) for South American publications and AJOL (African Journals Online) for articles published in Africa. Where possible, we sought to narrow the search to LMICs by incorporating the World Bank's list of low- and middle-income economies in the search terms [39]. Some specific papers were recommended by colleagues, and we hand-searched relevant journals in the departmental and university libraries. Other articles were obtained from reference lists published in identified studies. The initial search included papers published between 1 January 1980 and 31 March 2011. An updated search was completed on 14–15 February 2012, after which the contents pages of relevant journals were reviewed (via Zetoc) as they were published. These updated searches have provided a means to check that the thematic structure and synthesis developed in the primary analysis continue to hold true as new studies are published (“theoretical saturation”). Both authors reviewed all of the included papers independently, and then reached a final agreement on inclusion by consensus. All of the papers meeting our eligibility criteria were assessed for quality using an appropriate published tool [40]. This tool incorporates a pragmatic grading system [41] and uses an A–D scoring system. The authors determined grades by consensus, and studies scoring C+ or higher were included in the final review (see Table S1). Analysis and Synthesis Our intention was to generate new theoretical insights that could form the basis for hypothesis testing in the future, so we used the meta-ethnographic approach developed by Noblit and Hare [33]. This approach has been used successfully in meta-synthesis studies related to several different health care settings [19],[35],[42]–[44]. It is not restricted to ethnographic studies, as the approach can incorporate the full range of qualitative methods. We began by identifying the findings from one paper and comparing them with the findings from another, to generate a “long list” of emerging concepts. These early concepts were then examined to identify similarities, in a process that is termed “reciprocal translation”. During this process, some concepts were collapsed together to create a parsimonious thematic structure. Each author then reviewed the themes independently to ensure there were no data that were at odds with our analysis and that no data remained unexplained. This stage of the process is analogous to searching for discomfirming data and is termed “refutational translation” in meta-ethnographic studies [33]. The themes were then synthesised into a “line of argument” synthesis—a phrase or statement that summarises the main findings of the study and the theoretical insights that they generate. This synthesis was then used to create a hypothetical model to explain why women fail to make adequate use of antenatal services in LMICs. Reflexive Accounting In qualitative research, the researcher is the instrument of measurement, and the final analysis is a product of the interaction between the researcher and the data. Reflexive accounting allows the reader of the final research product to assess the degree to which the prior views and experiences of the researchers may have influenced design, data collection, and data interpretation in any specific study. In this case, S. D. believed that interpersonal relationships were likely to be critical in mediating antenatal care use, and K. F. believed that whether women accessed care was most likely to be influenced by personal and/or localised socio-economic circumstances. To minimise the effect of these beliefs, both authors were particularly rigorous in looking for refutational data in these specific areas as the analysis progressed. Results Our search to 31 March 2011 generated a total of 3,622 hits, including 625 duplicates, which were removed at this stage. Of the remaining 2,997 articles, 2,892 were excluded by title and abstract because they failed to address the initial selection criteria. Most of the studies removed at this stage were excluded for one of three reasons: (1) they were conducted in high-income countries, (2) they were obviously quantitative, or (3) they were not about access to antenatal care. Of the remaining 105 papers, a further 75 were removed after independent full text review by the authors, largely because they lacked sufficient qualitative data (n = 36), were based on the experiences of women who attended antenatal services regularly rather those who didn't (n = 25), reflected the views of service providers rather than the women attending care (n = 8), or were concerned with access to health care generally as opposed to antenatal care specifically (n = 6). This left 30 papers that were taken forward for quality assessment. Following independent review, the authors agreed that nine studies failed to meet the quality requirements, leaving 21 that were taken forward for analysis and synthesis (see Figure 1 for details of the selection process). Of the nine studies excluded, three were mixed methods studies with very limited qualitative data, two reported on the views of health care providers with little emphasis on the responses of service users, two presented qualitative information in a quantitative format (frequency of responses), and two failed to meet the quality criteria for design, methodology, and/or analysis. Only one study meeting the inclusion and quality criteria was identified by the updated searches since 31 March 2011 [45], and this was used to check the explanatory power of the final thematic structure, synthesis, and interpretation. 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001373.g001 Figure 1 Flow chart summarising search strategy. Description of the Studies The 21 papers in the final full synthesis represent the views of women from 15 countries (Bangladesh [×2], Benin, Cambodia, Gambia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Mozambique, Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa [×4], Tanzania [×2], and Uganda [×2]) and include data from more than 1,239 participants (minimum 10, maximum 240) who were either interviewed directly or gave their opinion as part of a focus group (see Table S1 for full details of the included studies). Two of the studies utilised a mixed methods approach, and although these studies contained limited qualitative information, the narrative data were pertinent and reasonably well reported. Ten of the 21 studies were conducted in a rural setting, three took place in an exclusively urban environment, and the remaining eight involved both urban and rural settings. The earliest paper was published in 1992 and the most recent in 2011, with the majority (n = 17) being published within the last ten years. More than half of the included papers (n = 12) were published within the last three years, which suggests an upswing in interest in this area of research (see Table 1 for a summary of included papers). 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001373.t001 Table 1 Summary of included studies. Authors [Reference] Year of Publication Country Location—Type of Region Number of Participants Method Used Quality Grading Abrahams et al. [46] 2001 South Africa Cape Town—semi-urban 32 Interviews C+ Myer and Harrison [47] 2003 South Africa Hlabisa district—rural 29 Interviews B Pretorius and Greeff [48] 2004 South Africa Mafikeng-Mmbatho districts—rural 18 Interviews C+ Mrisho et al. [49] 2009 Tanzania Lindi and Tandahimba districts—rural 58 Focus groups B Matsuoka et al. [50] 2010 Cambodia Kampong and Cham provinces—rural 66 Interviews and focus groups B Choudhury and Ahmed [51] 2011 Bangladesh Rangpur and Kurigram districts—rural 20 Interviews C+ Chapman [52] 2003 Mozambique Vila-Gondola—semi-urban 83 Interviews A Grossmann-Kendall et al. [53] 2001 Benin Cotonou and Ouidah districts—urban and rural 19 Interviews C+ Ndyomugyenyi et al. [54] 1998 Uganda Kigorobya sub-country—rural 80–120a Focus groups C+ Gcaba and Brookes [55] 1992 South Africa Durban—urban 10 Interviews B Atuyambe et al. [56] 2009 Uganda Wakiso district—rural 92 Focus groups B Stokes et al. [57] 2008 Gambia Kiang West district—rural 83 Interviews and focus groups C+ Griffiths and Stephenson [58] 2001 India Pune and Mumbai—mix of urban and rural at each location 45 Interviews B Simkhada et al. [59] 2010 Nepal Kathmandu area—semi-urban and rural 30 Interviews B Titaley et al. [60] 2010 Indonesia Garut, Sukabumi, and Ciamis districts, West Java—semi-urban and rural 119 Interviews and focus groups B Family Care International [61] 2003 Kenya Homabay and Migori districts—mix of urban and rural in each 27–47a Interviews and focus groups B Tinoco-Ojanguren et al. [62] 2008 Mexico Chiapas—mix of urban and rural 16 Interviews C+ Mumtaz and Salway [63] 2007 Pakistan Punjab—rural 39–55a Interviews and focus groups B Chowdhury et al. [64] 2003 Bangladesh Dhaka and Upazila—urban and rural 16 Interviews B Mubyazi et al. [65] 2010 Tanzania Mkuranaga and Mufinidi districts—both rural 240 Interviews and focus groups B+ Kabakian-Khasholian et al. [66] 2000 Lebanon Bekaa, Akkar, and Beirut—rural, semi-rural, and urban 117 Interviews C+ a A range is given for these studies, as the authors list the number of focus groups conducted, with a minimum and maximum number of participants; e.g., ten focus groups with 8–12 participants. Description of the Themes The emerging concepts and themes are summarised in Table 2. We identified a total of seven emerging themes and three final themes (summarised below), two of which relate specifically to initial attendance at antenatal facilities, and a further, service-oriented, theme relating to maintaining attendance. 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001373.t002 Table 2 Summary of themes. Initial Concepts (Findings from Primary Papers) Relevant Papers (References) Emerging Themes Final Themes Awareness of signs/symptoms of pregnancy 46–51 Pregnancy awareness and disclosure—awareness of signs and symptoms of pregnancy; cultural reasons for keeping pregnancy secret Pregnancy as socially contingent and physiologically healthy—pregnancy as a normal life event—only attend antenatal care when sick; lack of awareness of pregnancy indicators; lack of understanding of antenatal care benefits; embarrassment; cultural and supernatural implications of pregnancy disclosure; preference for traditional healers and medicines (including cost savings) Cultural reasons for keeping pregnancy secret 46,48,49,52–57 Don't recognise/understand Western approaches to health care 46,47,54,56,58,60 Resistance to risk-averse care models—don't recognise/understand Western approaches to health care; lack of perceived benefits; pregnancy as a normal life event; reliance on traditional/alternative antenatal practices; influence of family members Lack of perceived benefits of attendance 46–48,51,56,58,59,62–64 Pregnancy as a normal life event 46,50–54,56,58–61,66 Reliance on traditional/alternative antenatal practices 50,52,54,58,60–62 Influence of family members 50,51,62–64 Costs (direct and indirect) 46,49,50–56,58–66 Prioritising limited resources for basic survival—costs (direct and indirect); laziness Resource use and survival in conditions of extreme poverty—costs (direct and indirect), transport, and distance; time off work and child care—may be made to wait several hours; inadequate infrastructure (especially in rural areas); potential for accident/attack en route Laziness 46,47,49,62 Lack of transport and distance to clinic 46,48,50,54–56,58,60,65 Difficult and dangerous travel —lack of transport and distance to clinic; inadequate infrastructure Inadequate infrastructure 48,49,55,58,60–62,64 Lack of staff/medicine/care at clinic 49,50,54,56,58,65 Attending clinics is not worth the effort—lack of staff/medicine/care at clinic; waiting times at clinic Not getting it right the first time—poor staff attitude; inflexibility of antenatal care services; issuing of cards for delivery at a hospital (women don't return) and staff giving card holders preferential treatment; few, poorly trained staff; lack of facilities; lack of medicines Waiting times at clinic 46,48–50,52, Attendance only to get a card (for hospital delivery) 46,47,50,52,61 Locally determined rules of access—attendance only to get a card; inflexible booking systems Inflexible booking systems 46,63 Poor staff attitude 46,48–51,53,55–57,62,65,66 Insensitivity, disrespect, and abuse —poor staff attitude; embarrassment Embarrassment (about examination or inability to pay) 46,49,56,65, Theme One: Pregnancy as Socially Contingent and Physiologically Healthy This theme incorporates two concepts (highlighted below) that emphasise some of the cultural and contextual nuances associated with pregnancy. Many women in these studies described pregnancy as a healthy physical state and saw little reason to visit health professionals when there was no perceived threat to their well-being. In some cultures this reluctance to engage with antenatal services was further compounded by a belief that pregnancy disclosure could lead to unwanted religious or spiritual complications. Pregnancy awareness and disclosure: “It's better to wait, to see if you really are pregnant” For many respondents, traditional or cultural beliefs dictated that they should wait until they had missed several periods before confirming a pregnancy [46]–[51]. Sometimes it's difficult to tell that you are pregnant. Some people have irregular periods, they miss periods for months only to find they are not pregnant, so it is better to wait, to see if you are really pregnant. [Pregnant woman, rural South Africa] [47] This belief limited early accessing of care. Even when women suspected they were pregnant, the motivation to visit an antenatal clinic was often superseded by cultural and superstitious beliefs about pregnancy disclosure [52]–[63]. In rural Pakistan, the shame (sharam) associated with pregnancy, because of the obvious relationship with sexual activity, meant women were less willing to be seen in public places [63]. The shame of being pregnant and the subsequent reluctance to be seen in public was also a factor for pregnant teenagers in Uganda [56]. In other parts of Africa and South East Asia, the potential to be “cursed” by evil spirits or jealous or vindictive contemporaries had a detrimental effect on pregnancy disclosure [52],[53],[55],[64]. One South African woman who had recently experienced a neonatal death explained her loss in the following manner: I think my boyfriend's previous girlfriends were jealous of my pregnancy and they bewitched me. [55] These kinds of beliefs appeared to be relatively common in rural communities and discouraged women from visiting public places, especially antenatal clinics, where a visit would be perceived as a public declaration of pregnancy. Resistance to risk-averse care models: “What is the point in going for a check-up in a healthy condition?” In many of the studies, women reported that they didn't feel the need to seek professional care when there was nothing wrong with their pregnancy [46]–[49],[52]–[54],[58],[63],[64]. As no-one expects to be sick during pregnancy, visiting the centre for a check-up is not necessary. What is the point in going for a check-up in a healthy condition? [Non-user of antenatal care services, rural Bangladesh] [64] Pregnancy was viewed as a normal life event rather than a medical condition requiring professional monitoring and supervision. This was especially true for multiparous women who had experienced one or more healthy pregnancies [50],[54],[58]. If a woman has always delivered well, she does not see the need for antenatal care attendance or visiting the health unit to deliver. [Pregnant woman, rural Uganda] [54] In some hierarchical cultures the decision to engage with antenatal services was made by tribal elders, husbands, mothers-in-law, or senior family members rather than the women themselves [50],[56],[59],[62]–[64]. Findings from a Nepalese study highlight the central role played by the mother-in-law when it came to making decisions about whether to go for antenatal care. My mother-in-law doesn't help. It might be due to her past experiences. She used to do all the work by herself during her time of pregnancy, so she wants me to do the same. I have lots of work here at home so I don't go for [antenatal care] check-ups. [Non-user of antenatal care services, rural Nepal] [59] Theme Two: Resource Use and Survival in Conditions of Extreme Poverty All of the studies were conducted in populations affected by poverty, and our findings suggest that, in such circumstances, limited personal resources were often directed towards immediate survival needs rather than specific pregnancy-related concerns. Even when antenatal care was offered free of charge, the cost of transport (sometimes across difficult or dangerous terrain), the loss of women's labour to the family, and the possibility of having to pay for additional medicines rendered attendance impossible. Using resources for health care or basic survival: “If there is no money, we can't go” In virtually all of the identified studies [46],[49],[50]–[56],[58]–[66], the costs (both direct and indirect) of visiting antenatal facilities were viewed as a significant factor in restricting or inhibiting access to antenatal care: It is good to go to the doctor during pregnancy, but if there is no money we can't go. I wanted to go but I didn't have the money to pay. [Limited user of antenatal care services, Mumbai, India] [58] Even in countries offering free access to antenatal care, the unanticipated costs of paying for drugs, tests, and medical cards placed an additional strain on limited family finances. The reason I did not go back there [to the antenatal clinic] is because my husband only buys what he wants when he is given the prescription. For example, when there are three things prescribed he buys only two. So, why should I take the trouble to go there for nothing? If I go to the clinic every month, he will just ask how much I think he earns to be able to buy so many medications for me. [Limited user of antenatal care services, Benin] [53] The indirect costs of getting to and from antenatal facilities were highlighted consistently in the included studies, especially those conducted in rural areas [46],[48],[50],[54]–[56],[58],[60]. The prohibitive costs of taxi and bus fares prevented some women from visiting antenatal clinics, and, in cases of extreme poverty, even the most basic forms of transport came at an unaffordable price. When I was pregnant what prevented me from seeking healthcare was lack of transport money because my legs were a problem. I used to live far away in the hills and I could not ask anyone to take me on a bicycle because I would be asked for money. [Adolescent limited user of antenatal care services, rural Uganda] [56] Some of the respondents' accounts indicated that the need for women to contribute to relatively meagre household resources was more than simply a useful contribution. It was perceived to be crucial for survival, especially at significant times in the farming cycle: When I had a third pregnancy, it was harvest season. So I wanted to help my husband, even during the pregnancy. [Non-user of antenatal care services, rural Cambodia] [50] Difficult and dangerous travel: “It is so far and the road condition is too bad” Many of the studies included in this synthesis were conducted in predominantly rural areas with relatively basic transport networks. For pregnant women living in towns and villages without community health care facilities, the need to journey to distant locations to receive antenatal care presented travelling difficulties, which they were unwilling or unable to overcome [46],[47],[50],[52],[58],[60],[62]. I never visited the health centre to check my pregnancy because it is so far and the road condition is too bad. [Non-user of antenatal care services, rural Cambodia] [50] Even in situations where women were prepared to make lengthy journeys on foot, sometimes walking for three to four hours, the associated risks and challenges occasionally prevented them from doing so. In parts of Africa, the prospect of being attacked by wild animals or aggressive men deterred women from making these journeys, whilst in South East Asia, the deterioration of the roads during the rainy season had a similar detrimental effect. This suggests that the barriers were not just nonexistent or expensive transportation, or inadequate roads, but also the fear of physical harm, which outweighed any benefits that might be gained from antenatal care: It is really hard when it is raining. We are afraid we will fall over because the road is so slippery and we are pregnant. The health centre is far and you can see that the road is poor. [Limited user of antenatal care services, West Java, Indonesia] [60] Theme Three: Not Getting It Right the First Time Given the very real and critical issues of how women perceive pregnancy, and of the economic and physical sacrifice needed from the woman and her family to get her to a central antenatal clinic, it is crucial that the services she receives when she gets there are “fit for purpose”, and that the benefits are perceived to outweigh potential harms. Unfortunately, for many of the women included in this review, this was not the case. Attending clinics is not worth the effort: “It's better to go to the TBA [traditional birth attendant]” The relatively poor economic circumstances of the countries included in this study meant that clinics were often severely under-resourced. Pregnant women who initially recognised the benefits of antenatal care and who made the often significant financial and personal sacrifices to visit health care facilities were often disappointed by the lack of resources they found when they finally got there. As a consequence, they made the decision not to return [48]–[50],[54],[56],[58],[65]. I don't visit the health centre for antenatal care because the health centre doesn't have enough medical equipment. When we have a problem, all they will probably do is refer us to the referral hospital…. [Non-user of antenatal care services, rural Cambodia] [50] The amount of time women had to wait to be seen by health professionals, especially after long and difficult journeys, was a common cause of complaint and discouraged some of them from attending again [46],[48],[49],[52],[54],[65]. Pregnant women also complained about the cursory nature of consultations in understaffed clinics and made the decision to revert to more traditional forms of antenatal care. They just touch your abdomen, it's better to go to the TBA [traditional birth attendant] because the TBA examines the mother and tells her how the baby is lying in her stomach. [Pregnant woman, rural Uganda] [54] Locally determined rules of access: “If you do not have a card, they will not accept you” Our findings suggest that in a number of cases, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, the practice of giving antenatal cards to women attending the clinic is being poorly managed and is having a detrimental effect on continued access. Some health care providers use the clinic card as “a passport” and refuse to admit labouring women to a clinic or hospital if they do not have one [46],[49],[52],[53],[65]. This kind of negative reinforcement has created a situation in which pregnant women visit an antenatal facility only once—to get a “clinic card”. I am just afraid of being denied services when I need them, so one must just go [to antenatal care] to get the [clinic] card. If you do not have a card, they will not accept you when there is a problem…otherwise we could just rest at home. [Woman in ninth month of pregnancy, rural Tanzania] [65] Disrespect and abuse: “They don't care for patients” One of the most common reasons given for delaying or restricting antenatal visits was the poor attitude of staff at health care facilities [46],[48],[50],[51],[53],[56],[62],[63],[65],[66]. Findings from countries in Africa, Asia, and South America highlight insensitivity, rudeness, humiliation, neglect, abuse, and even physical violence by health centre staff as key factors in limiting women's accessing of antenatal care. Sometimes the poor attitude of health care providers was described by what they failed to do, as recounted by a young woman in Uganda: They [health care workers at an antenatal clinic] don't care for patients, for example when you go in the morning they will ask you “at your home don't you sleep”. When you go at lunch time they will ask you whether at your place you don't take lunch. And when you go in the evening they will tell you they have closed up. [56] Authors also reported that women felt intimidated because of the potential for abuse: When you see the health agent yelling at women who are not feeling well, you are afraid of telling them what is wrong with you too…. [Pregnant woman, Benin] [53] In other contexts, women recounted being punished or humiliated because of some perceived minor misdemeanour: If you arrive late at the clinic, the staff rebukes and punishes you with a fine or they order you to clean the floor or sweep the surroundings. [Limited user of antenatal care services, rural Tanzania] [65] In all of these examples, women reported feeling reluctant to return for another appointment, and some reverted to more traditional forms of antenatal care as a consequence. Line-of-Argument Synthesis Antenatal care provision that is based on a concept of pregnancy as a potentially risky biomedical state, and that, as a consequence, provides mechanisms focused mainly on surveillance in more or less centralised locations, is contextually at odds with the theories, beliefs, and socio-economic situations of pregnant women and their families in a range of LMICs. This situation is compounded when accessing services presents additional risks to women and their families, in terms of lost labour or income, or physical danger; when the promised care is not delivered because of resource constraints; and when women experience covert or overt abuse in care settings. Hypothesis Based on the Findings Following the claim by Pawson [67] that “programmes are theory incarnate”, our data can illuminate the potential inconsistencies between theories underpinning antenatal care programmes based on the WHO antenatal care model [23] and the themes that underpin the beliefs, actions, and experiences (the local context) of those to whom these programmes are targeted (see Figure 2). We hypothesize that the dissonance between these two frames of reference might explain the lack of initial attendance at antenatal clinics, as described in the first row of Figure 2. The second row of the figure illustrates a second misalignment, this time between the principles assumed to underpin antenatal care provision, and the experiences of women who use them. We hypothesize that this misalignment may explain the lack of return visits for antenatal care after the first encounter. 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001373.g002 Figure 2 Hypothetical model of inadequate access to antenatal care in low and middle income countries. Testing for Theoretical Saturation The data from the one paper [45] we identified after the end of our formal search phase in March 2011 can be incorporated into our explanatory model, suggesting theoretical saturation. We would argue that future studies should therefore focus on testing our hypothesis, and designing specific solutions to the problem of inadequate attendance building on this summary of all the relevant qualitative data to date. This approach would avoid the problem of “analytic interruptus” described by Statham in relation to the continual reproduction of single-site qualitative studies with no attempt to translate the emerging theoretical insights into action [68]. Discussion Some of the issues identified by this meta-synthesis are common to other areas of maternity care and health care in general. At the family level, these include lack of household resources, especially when faced with the problem of formal and informal payment or services [69],[70], and the problems inherent in travel to centralised health care services [46],[51]–[54],[71]. Restricted autonomy for women has been identified as a factor underpinning inability to make personal decisions about health service use [72], and this factor is one of the underlying elements of the “three delays” hypothesis relating to lack of accessing of emergency care in labour [73]. There is also an increasing recognition of the problem of human rights abuses in health care in general [74]–[76]. From a theoretical perspective our findings suggest the hypothesis that, in certain contexts, there may be a misalignment between the theories that underpin the provision of antenatal care and the beliefs and socio-economic contexts of women who access services irregularly or not at all. The dissonance between these two frames of reference might explain the lack of initial access to antenatal care. A second disparity, this time between the nature of antenatal provision and the expectations of the women who use the services, may explain the lack of continued engagement. We are not aware of previous studies that have integrated these factors into an analysis of antenatal care use based on women's views and experiences, or that have identified pregnancy as a socially risky but physically healthy state. Minimising social stigma and risk requires care provision that is discrete and certainly not provided in public places subject to long queues for services. Strategies incorporating culturally appropriate understandings of maternity care tailored to individual communities are rare, but participatory programmes where local women and community leaders are actively engaged in the planning of local antenatal services have been shown to be effective in increasing antenatal coverage and reducing maternal and infant mortality [77]. This approach is well illustrated by a recent Cambodian study, which showed a 22% increase in antenatal attendance when service users and influential stakeholders became involved in the planning of community maternity services [78]. From a socio-economic perspective our findings suggest that, even in situations where women recognise the benefits of antenatal care and are willing, in principle, to attend, the physical barriers and even physical risks of getting to and from the clinic, coupled with the potential loss of crucial family resources, can be prohibitive. Even if services are free (with no covert point-of-care costs) and safe transport systems are provided, taking women from essential farming duties on long trips to and from central clinics might, at the extreme, still present a risk to family food supplies. In this case, the benefits of antenatal care must weigh strongly in the balance for service users before uptake will increase. Also, even where women do have a degree of personal autonomy, those who see pregnancy as a healthy state, but as socially risky, are still unlikely to value and attend programmes that expose their pregnant state, and that are largely focused on identifying and averting risk. This is especially pertinent when both the direct and opportunity costs are high, travel to central locations is difficult and dangerous, and the services they receive are of poor quality and overtly or covertly abusive. Projects designed to incentivise pregnant women to attend antenatal care have been implemented successfully in some LMICs. The Janani Suraksha Yojana cash transfer programme in India, where women are paid a small amount to attend antenatal care and give birth in a recognised health care facility, has had a significant effect on antenatal attendance and subsequent levels of neonatal and perinatal mortality [79]. An alternative, transport-based project in eastern Uganda, where local motorcycle riders were contracted to take women to and from antenatal clinics throughout their pregnancy, also showed a significant increase in antenatal attendance [80]. However, doubts remain about the practicality and sustainability of these kinds of initiatives, and, as our findings illustrate, many pregnant women remain unconvinced by the focus and quality of antenatal programmes, and seem unlikely to make full use of antenatal facilities unless care quality is improved. Given that data were not available from every region of every LMIC, it is possible that our line-of-argument synthesis, and our model, do not apply to all contexts in which antenatal care is underused. However, the comprehensiveness of our analysis is reinforced by evidence of theoretical saturation, both from our refutational analysis, and from the paper [45] published after the end of our formal search phase in March 2011. Our hypothetical model can explain the findings of this study, including the influence of cultural beliefs and lack of respect from health care professionals. In addition, the findings of the meta-synthesis are similar to those of a parallel review of women's accounts of non-accessing or limited accessing of antenatal care in resource-rich countries [19]. Given the range of countries that were represented in the meta-synthesis, and the date range of the publications (over nearly two decades), the issues seem to be universal and persistent. We hope that our synthesis illustrates the need to move from small repeated studies of the same problem in local contexts towards a more comprehensive understanding of the potential dissonance between context and service delivery mechanism across all of these settings. A more thorough evaluation using the realist review approach could test this hypothesis, and contribute towards a more detailed understanding of this issue [81]. This could provide the basis for a new approach to the design and delivery of antenatal care, founded on a careful analysis of distinctive local beliefs, values, and resource availability. Such an approach could identify a way of moving services away from broad population-based solutions, towards new service designs based on what works, for whom, in what circumstances [81]. Conclusion Despite moderate success in reducing MMRs and increasing antenatal care coverage, the global targets associated with MDG 5 seem unlikely to be attained by 2015, especially in many LMICs. So far, practical initiatives to address these issues have tended to adopt centralised, public provision of antenatal care based on utilitarian strategies designed to minimise clinical risk. This approach benefits some women and infants, but it marginalises others, as the programme design does not take into account necessary survival decisions, beliefs, attitudes, or cultural theories that may be intrinsic to the local context. Measures designed to sustain and maintain access in LMICs are likely to be more effective when policy makers and service providers align their programmes with the theoretical and philosophical constructs and the severe practical constraints that underpin the local community context. Such programmes must ensure that, once they access services, all pregnant women are treated with dignity, respect, and compassion. If programme delivery is not aligned with local contexts in this way, the findings from this meta-synthesis suggest, even the best and most physically accessible services may remain underused by some local pregnant women. Supporting Information Table S1 Assessment of quality of included studies. (RTF) Click here for additional data file.

0 comments Cited 198 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Is Open Access

Assessing the Effect of mHealth Interventions in Improving Maternal and Neonatal Care in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

Stephanie Sondaal, Joyce Linda Browne, Mary Amoakoh-Coleman … (2016)

Introduction Maternal and neonatal mortality remains high in many low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Availability and use of mobile phones is increasing rapidly with 90% of persons in developing countries having a mobile-cellular subscription. Mobile health (mHealth) interventions have been proposed as effective solutions to improve maternal and neonatal health. This systematic review assessed the effect of mHealth interventions that support pregnant women during the antenatal, birth and postnatal period in LMIC. Methods The review was registered with Prospero (CRD42014010292). Six databases were searched from June 2014–April 2015, accompanied by grey literature search using pre-defined search terms linked to pregnant women in LMIC and mHealth. Quality of articles was assessed with an adapted Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. Because of heterogeneity in outcomes, settings and study designs a narrative synthesis of quantitative results of intervention studies on maternal outcomes, neonatal outcomes, service utilization, and healthy pregnancy education was conducted. Qualitative and quantitative results were synthesized with a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis. Results In total, 3777 articles were found, of which 27 studies were included: twelve intervention studies and fifteen descriptive studies. mHealth interventions targeted at pregnant women increased maternal and neonatal service utilization shown through increased antenatal care attendance, facility-service utilization, skilled attendance at birth, and vaccination rates. Few articles assessed the effect on maternal or neonatal health outcomes, with inconsistent results. Conclusion mHealth interventions may be effective solutions to improve maternal and neonatal service utilization. Further studies assessing mHealth’s impact on maternal and neonatal outcomes are recommended. The emerging trend of strong experimental research designs with randomized controlled trials, combined with feasibility research, government involvement and integration of mHealth interventions into the healthcare system is encouraging and can pave the way to improved decision making on best practice implementation of mHealth interventions.

0 comments Cited 178 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Contributors

J. Frederik Frøen:

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9390-8509

frederik.froen@fhi.no

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): BMC Med Inform Decis Mak

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): BMC Med Inform Decis Mak

Title: BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making

Publisher: BioMed Central (London )

ISSN (Electronic): 1472-6947

Publication date (Electronic): 6 January 2020

Publication date PMC-release: 6 January 2020

Publication date Collection: 2020

Volume: 20

Electronic Location Identifier: 1

Affiliations

[1 ]ISNI 0000 0001 1541 4204, GRID grid.418193.6, Global Health Cluster, Division for Health Services, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, ; Oslo, Norway

[2 ]ISNI 0000 0004 1936 7443, GRID grid.7914.b, Center for Intervention Science in Maternal and Child Health (CISMAC), , University of Bergen, ; Bergen, Norway

[3 ]The Palestinian National Institute of Public Health, World Health Organization, Ramallah, Palestine

[4 ]ISNI 0000 0004 1936 8921, GRID grid.5510.1, Health Information Systems Program, Department of Informatics, , University of Oslo, ; Oslo, Norway

[5 ]The Palestinian Ministry of Health, Ramallah, Palestine

Author information

J. Frederik Frøen http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9390-8509

Article

Publisher ID: 1002

DOI: 10.1186/s12911-019-1002-x

PMC ID: 6945530

PubMed ID: 31906929

SO-VID: 9874c391-d39e-4d35-8f3c-b35ea4249edb

License:

Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

History

Date received : 6 June 2019

Date accepted : 9 December 2019

Funding

Funded by: FundRef http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100011199, FP7 Ideas: European Research Council;

Award ID: 617639

Funded by: Research council of Norway

Award ID: 234376

Funded by: Research Council of Norway

Award ID: 223269

Custom metadata

ScienceOpen disciplines: Bioinformatics & Computational biology

Keywords: targeted client communication,digital health,mhealth,sms,text messages,antenatal care,maternal and child health,electronic registry,dhis2

Data availability:

ScienceOpen disciplines: Bioinformatics & Computational biology

Keywords: targeted client communication, digital health, mhealth, sms, text messages, antenatal care, maternal and child health, electronic registry, dhis2

Development of a targeted client communication intervention to women using an electronic maternal and child health registry: a qualitative study

Read this article at

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Related collections

Genetoberfest

Most cited references 26

mHealth innovations as health system strengthening tools: 12 common applications and a visual framework

Why Do Women Not Use Antenatal Services in Low- and Middle-Income Countries? A Meta-Synthesis of Qualitative Studies

Assessing the Effect of mHealth Interventions in Improving Maternal and Neonatal Care in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

Author and article information

Contributors

Journal

Affiliations

Author information

Article

History

Funding

Categories

Custom metadata

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 120

Cited by 71

Most referenced authors 535