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Handbook of Communication for Development and Social Change pp 1–11Cite as

New Media: The Changing Dynamics in Mobile Phone Application in Accelerating Health Care Among the Rural Populations in Kenya

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Abstract

Lack of access to adequate health care is largely due to lack of appropriate information. Access to information and communications technology has become a necessity for any society that seeks to be informed. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) had health-care improvement as one of the pillars; however a majority of the African countries were not able to achieve these goals and have now embarked on Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable Development Goal number three aims at ensuring healthy lives and promotion of the well-being of all ages.

Kenya has implemented two strategies aimed at influencing skilled facility care utilization: the provision of free maternity health services and the Beyond ZERO Campaign. However, these strategies may not have achieved much due to lack of adequate and relevant information for the populations. Therefore utilization of new media in disseminating health knowledge to populations may be an alternative to the traditional media and other channels of health knowledge dissemination which may not be in tandem with the ever-changing socioeconomic realities in the rural communities. World Health Organization (WHO) report (2011) states that the unprecedented spread of mobile technologies as well as advancements in their innovative application to address health priorities has evolved into a new field of eHealth, known as mHealth. The report further states that the use of mobile devices to send appointment reminders is becoming more common in many countries.

Advances in technology can enable patients to receive a diagnosis and treatment plans without leaving their homes. Application of mobile phones in dissemination of maternal health knowledge can strengthen health-care systems in developing countries.

This chapter seeks to assess the appropriation of mobile phone technology in accelerating the access to skilled facility health care, investigate the different types of health knowledge that can be accessed through the mobile phone, and assess the efficiency of the mobile phone in disseminating maternal health knowledge. The study will review available literature using a case study of Kenya.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Language and Communication Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences and Technology, Technical University of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya

    Alfred Okoth Akwala

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  1. Alfred Okoth Akwala
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Correspondence to Alfred Okoth Akwala .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Former UNESCO Chair in Communication for Sustainable Social Change, University of Leuven, Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Jan Servaes

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Akwala, A.O. (2018). New Media: The Changing Dynamics in Mobile Phone Application in Accelerating Health Care Among the Rural Populations in Kenya. In: Servaes, J. (eds) Handbook of Communication for Development and Social Change. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7035-8_84-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7035-8_84-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-7035-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-7035-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    New Media: The Changing Dynamics in Mobile Phone Application in Accelerating Health Care Among the Rural Populations in Kenya
    Published:
    30 November 2019

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7035-8_84-2

  2. Original

    New Media: The Changing Dynamics in Mobile Phone Application in Accelerating Health Care Among the Rural Populations in Kenya
    Published:
    10 July 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7035-8_84-1

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