The usefulness of nutrition and health videos displayed on mobile phones in rural Uganda

Experiences of community health workers and mothers

Bibliographic Data

ID15536792
AuthorsLauriina Schneider (0000-0003-0094-2738, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, corresponding author), Sari Ollila (0009-0007-8952-3623, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry), Marja Mutanen (University of Helsinki)
Year2022
Volume18
Issue2
Pagese13322-e13322
Publication date2022-01-24
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMaternal and Child Nutrition (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1740-8695 • E-ISSN: 1740-8709
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/mcn.13322
PMID35075791
OpenAlexW4210573560
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited43

Improvements in community health workers' (CHWs) knowledge and practices in low-income countries increasingly involve mobile phones and videos. However, little data exists on CHWs' and mothers' experiences of using such phones and videos. In this study, educational videos on nutrition, health and hygiene were downloaded onto mobile phones, which were given to 12 CHWs in rural Uganda. In 2018, these CHWs used the videos for a period of 3 months to support their work during their visits with families. We subsequently conducted individual interviews with eight CHWs and held four focus group discussions with 16 mothers. From the inductively analysed data, we identified four key themes: impact, competence, meaningfulness and choice, which are also dimensions of the Intrinsic Task Motivation Model. The model describes the motivation of workers and has previously been used in connection with CHWs. In our study, CHWs and mothers considered that the videos had more strongly impacted their learning than traditional teaching methods, and they felt the videos improved the child feeding and caring competence of both CHWs and mothers. Furthermore, the CHWs found that the videos enhanced the meaningfulness of their work, as they felt more greatly appreciated and necessary. In addition, they experienced more freedom of choice in their ability to influence their working routines. This study shows that educational videos are well received among CHWs and mothers. Educational videos are a promising method to maintain and improve the motivation of voluntary CHWs and influence correct child feeding and hygiene practices in Uganda

Community health · Community health workers · Environmental health · Health services · Population · Public health · Rural community · Rural population · Socioeconomics · Child Development and Digital Technology · ICT in Developing Communities · Innovation and Socioeconomic Development · Medicine · Nursing

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Open DOIOpen Access