Abstract

The rapid proliferation of mobile technologies in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has generated considerable eagerness among researchers, donors, and implementers to employ these advances for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of public health programs. While mHealth innovations present promise for the field of injury prevention and control, their use in LMICs has largely been as part of pilot programs. In order to scale up the use of these innovations to improve reach, efficiency and effectiveness of injury prevention, control, and surveillance programs, we ought to examine the empirical evidence supporting their value in terms of diversity, performance. This 90-minute session will aim to highlight the use of mHealth approaches for different purposes in LMICs, such as data collection to understand risk factors for road safety, interventions for home-based child injuries, and hospital-based surveillance/registries. The presenters will share their experience with respect to the development, implementation, user satisfaction, strengths and challenges in resource-limited environments. The presentations will be followed by a moderated interactive discussion to highlight key lessons for the field and further opportunities to harness the potential of digital technology for injury prevention and control in LMICs. Program: Welcome and Overview of Nexus of Injury Research and mHealth Innovations: Dr. Adnan Hyder (10 min); Talks include ‘Establishing mHealth based trauma registries in LMICs: Implementation challenges’ by Dr. Amber Mehmood; (2) Roadside observational study of road safety risk factors using tablet-based data collection in Accra, Ghana’ by Francis Afukaar; (3) ‘mCHILD: A cell-phone based tool for the prevention of child injuries in the home environment’ by Dr. Abdulgafoor M. Bachani. Moderated panel discussion on ‘What are the future opportunities for large-scale mHealth based injury research?’