JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Mobile health (mHealth) interventions are becoming more common in low-income countries. Existing research often overlooks implementation challenges associated with technological requirements and design of mHealth interventions.

Objective:

We sought to characterize the challenges that we encountered implementing a complex mHealth intervention in Uganda.

Methods:

We customized a commercial mobile survey application to facilitate a household-randomized, controlled trial of home-based TB contact investigation. We incorporated digital fingerprinting for patient identification in both study arms and automated SMS messages in the intervention arm only. A local research team systematically documented challenges to implementation in biweekly site visit reports, project management reports, and minutes from bi-weekly conference calls. We then classified these challenges using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR).

Results:

We identified challenges in three principal CFIR domains: (1) intervention characteristics, (2) inner setting, and (3) characteristics of implementers. The adaptability of the application to the local setting was limited by software and hardware requirements. The complexity and logistics of implementing the intervention further hindered its adaptability. Study staff reported that community health workers (CHWs) were enthusiastic regarding the use of technology to enhance TB contact investigation during trainings and the initial phase of implementation. After experiencing technological failures, their trust in the technology declined along with their use of it. Finally, complex data structures impeded development and execution of a data management plan that would allow for articulation of goals and provide timely feedback to study staff, CHWs, and participants.

Conclusions:

mHealth technologies have the potential to make delivery of public health interventions more direct and efficient, but we found that a lack of adaptability, excessive complexity, loss of trust among end-users, and a lack of effective feedback systems can undermine implementation, especially in low-resource settings where digital services have not yet proliferated. Implementers should anticipate and strive to avoid these barriers by investing in and adapting to local human and material resources, prioritizing feedback from end users, and optimizing data management and quality assurance procedures.