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Visibility in community health work mediated by mobile health systems: A case of Malawi
Author(s) -
Namatovu Esther,
Kanjo Chipo
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the electronic journal of information systems in developing countries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.41
H-Index - 18
ISSN - 1681-4835
DOI - 10.1002/isd2.12071
Subject(s) - visibility , work (physics) , health care , situated , public relations , sociology , knowledge management , computer science , political science , geography , engineering , mechanical engineering , artificial intelligence , meteorology , law
The paper explores how community health work becomes visible to different actors in the health system through a mobile health system. Community health work is confined in places of physical settings for many mobile and distributed workers. These places create social meanings and significance in which work is situated and yet blurry to the rest of the health system. An in‐depth interpretive case study of a mobile health system designed to support decision‐making in maternal and infant care for community health workers (CHWs) referred to as health surveillance assistants (HSAs) in Malawi showed how the system was implicated in work visibility. In our empirical findings, we uncover work aspects like work interactions, collaboration, coordination, surveillance among others that flow through place and space hence becoming visible to different actors. This visibility had implications for work coherence among colleagues, work identity affirmation and recognition in the community, and control from superiors. We contribute to ICT4D research by focusing on the micro perspective of work visibility, treating visibility as negotiated in work. We also make practical contributions by highlighting the implications of visibility and draw recommendations for system design to have intricate knowledge of work and other related dynamics in work.