(with thanks to Claire Glenton)
http://wwwdepts-live.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology/assa/discoveries/smart-from-...
'An example of this is Marília Duque’s 150 page manual on using WhatsApp for health, which can be found in the ‘Publications’ section of our website and is based on Duque’s observations in Brazil. In describing the creative ideas for how to use WhatApp for health that she observed in Brazil, the manual illustrates the concept of ‘smart-from-below’: Marília and her research participants (in this case, patients, nurses and healthcare professionals) did not invent WhatsApp, but she used her observations about the app’s use in different health contexts to create a set of best practice ‘protocols’ that could be applied if an organisation did want to trial using the WhatsApp to communicate with patients, for example, thinking about factors like what phone should be used in a particular hospital and how patients could send information about their symptoms to healthcare professionals.'
Learning from WhatsApp Best Practices for Health
Communication protocols for hospitals and medical clinics
http://wwwdepts-live.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology/assa/learning-from-whatsapp-...
EXTRACT: WHY WHATSAPP?
'Whatsapp is a free service, and is the world’s most popular chat app, with over 1.5 billion active users around the world.
While conducting fieldwork, Marília found that using already existing apps for purposes such as health and care meant that existing barriers to digital health access are effectively removed – if the user is already using the app to stay in touch with friends and family, it is much more likely that they will adhere to health advice they receive via this channel, as well as being much more likely to pay attention to any incoming messages. This resonates with the overall findings of the ‘The Anthropology of Smartphones and Smart Ageing’ project.
Whatsapp is also perceived as a particularly user-friendly messaging app with a clean and simple to use design – this means that groups that are ordinarily excluded from accessing it, such as non-tech-savvy segments of the population, or older people, are able to use it.'
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mHEALTH-INNOVATE (76) Using WhatsApp for health
(with thanks to Claire Glenton)
http://wwwdepts-live.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology/assa/discoveries/smart-from-...
'An example of this is Marília Duque’s 150 page manual on using WhatsApp for health, which can be found in the ‘Publications’ section of our website and is based on Duque’s observations in Brazil. In describing the creative ideas for how to use WhatApp for health that she observed in Brazil, the manual illustrates the concept of ‘smart-from-below’: Marília and her research participants (in this case, patients, nurses and healthcare professionals) did not invent WhatsApp, but she used her observations about the app’s use in different health contexts to create a set of best practice ‘protocols’ that could be applied if an organisation did want to trial using the WhatsApp to communicate with patients, for example, thinking about factors like what phone should be used in a particular hospital and how patients could send information about their symptoms to healthcare professionals.'
Learning from WhatsApp Best Practices for Health
Communication protocols for hospitals and medical clinics
http://wwwdepts-live.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology/assa/learning-from-whatsapp-...
EXTRACT: WHY WHATSAPP?
'Whatsapp is a free service, and is the world’s most popular chat app, with over 1.5 billion active users around the world.
While conducting fieldwork, Marília found that using already existing apps for purposes such as health and care meant that existing barriers to digital health access are effectively removed – if the user is already using the app to stay in touch with friends and family, it is much more likely that they will adhere to health advice they receive via this channel, as well as being much more likely to pay attention to any incoming messages. This resonates with the overall findings of the ‘The Anthropology of Smartphones and Smart Ageing’ project.
Whatsapp is also perceived as a particularly user-friendly messaging app with a clean and simple to use design – this means that groups that are ordinarily excluded from accessing it, such as non-tech-savvy segments of the population, or older people, are able to use it.'
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I have invited the author to join us.
Neil Pakenham-Walsh, Global Coordinator HIFA, www.hifa.org neil@hifa.org
Working in official relations with WHO
Neil Pakenham-Walsh, Global Coordinator HIFA, www.hifa.org neil@hifa.org
Working in official relations with WHO
