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Cited by 148Global Health Workforce IssuesICT in Developing CommunitiesGlobal Health and Surgery

Digital Technologies for Health Workforce Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review

Open access
Long, Lesley-Anne, Pariyo, George, Kallander, Karin·2018·Global Health: Science and Practice
DOI 10.9745/ghsp-d-18-00167PMC PMC6203417
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Abstract

The collection of journal articles, systematic reviews, and reports published over the last decade that attest to the potential of digital technologies to achieve health workforce improvements across all aspects of the health system is vast. As a capacity-building mechanism, digital technology has potential for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to support development of the health workforce, including those health workers based in remote or rural areas, to train, motivate, support, monitor, and pay them. The purpose of this scoping review to present, at a high level, the state of the evidence and best practices in digital strategies for human resources for health and to propose a roadmap for a research agenda to fill identified gaps in the evidence. A variety of peer-reviewed and gray literature sources were searched using selected key terms related to digital health and health workforce, limited to materials published from 2010 to 2018. More than 70 articles, reports, and blog posts were reviewed, with in-depth analysis of 29 articles. Findings show that a range of digital health solutions for health workforce development have been tested and used, such as for health worker training, provider-to-provider communication and professional networking, and supervision of and performance feedback to health workers. There is some evidence of improved efficiency and effectiveness, at least at the level of pilots or small-scale projects. There is, however, a growing urgency in global health to move beyond small-scale demonstration projects and to define the capital and recurring costs of implementation and scale up of digital health interventions, including the return on investment. The next frontier is to select, adapt, and implement at scale those digital health interventions for health worker development and management found to be most promising.

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  • The usefulness of the mHealth app for CHWs is centered on the ease of integration into the routine workflow, improved capacity to deliver follow-up services, less paperwork, organization of data, and abolishing the paper-based registers.

    “The usefulness of the mHealth app for CHWs is centered on the ease of integration into the routine workflow, improved capacity to deliver follow-up services, less paperwork, organization of data, and abolishing the paper-based registers [30-41].”

    From Operability, Usefulness, and Task-Technology Fit of an mHealth App for Delivering Primary Health Care Services by Community Health Workers in Underserved Areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan: Qualitative Study (2020) · cites this paper as [36]

    In Results > Why Digital Health? (page unavailable), the review says digital tools can improve CHW efficiency and support better data reporting. It does not establish that an mHealth app integrates easily into routine workflows, improves follow-up services, reduces paperwork, or abolishes paper-based registers; a follow-up program appears only in a reference title. (LLM, conf=0.83)

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  • A digital app has the potential to improve users' knowledge, skills, and performance.

    “Moreover, a digital app has the potential to improve users’ knowledge, skills, and performance [36-38].”

    From Operability, Usefulness, and Task-Technology Fit of an mHealth App for Delivering Primary Health Care Services by Community Health Workers in Underserved Areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan: Qualitative Study (2020) · cites this paper as [36]

    The Results (‘Why Digital Health?’; page unavailable) say digital tools can increase health workers’ knowledge and skills, and the Discussion says digital technologies focused on training and staff performance have the potential to improve health workforce capacity. The claim extends that potential from health workers in low- and middle-income countries to app users generally, which this source does not establish. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 15

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Long, L.-A., Pariyo, G., & Kallander, K.
Affiliations
Johns Hopkins University (US)
Corresponding author
Long, Lesley-Anne
ORCID
Pariyo, George
Venue
Global Health: Science and Practice
Publisher
Johns Hopkins School Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Communication Programs
Published
2018-10-10
Volume
6
Issue
Supplement 1
Pages
S41-S48
ISSN
2169-575X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.9745/ghsp-d-18-00167
PMC
PMC6203417
OpenAlex
W2897220463
Cited by
148
References
11
Citations by year
2026: 18 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 12
FWCI
17.19
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Global Health Science and Practice (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Aetna Foundation
  • World Health Organization
  • Johns Hopkins University
  • Karolinska Institutet
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Emergency Medical Services › Global Health Workforce Issues
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › ICT in Developing Communities
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Global Health and Surgery
Keywords
digital health, health workforce development, human resources for health, low- and middle-income countries, health professions education, professional networking, health worker supervision, performance feedback, implementation costs, scale-up, return on investment, capacity building
MeSH terms
Developing Countries, Health Personnel, Humans, Staff Development, Biomedical Technology

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