Women as Beneficiaries of Telemedicine and eHealth Services in Peru: Access and Use of ICT for Health Among Female Healthcare Workers in the Area of ePrevention
Abstract
Improving access to information and communication technologies (ICT) and the affordability of these services are prerequisites for their efficient and sustainable use in healthcare and eHealth. This article reports a survey of 239 Peruvian female health related personnel in the Andean region, to assess the role ICT play in facilitating access to health information among healthcare workers (HCWs) in the region for the prevention of infectious diseases. The survey questionnaire enquired about the HCWs’ access to ICT (pre and postpaid mobile cellular telephones, residential Internet, and telecentres), their use of ICT for healthcare contact and health information retrieval, and their communication and training preferences. The only statistics calculated were frequency of responses. Ninety per cent of the participants reported having access to at least one modality and 78% reported having access to two of the three services, highlighting the increasing importance of these technologies as platforms for urban and rural HCWs to exchange health information. Female HCWs in Peru reported taking advantage of these technologies to contact their healthcare centres (67%) and to obtain health information (65%); yet, 30% mentioned having difficulty in contacting such centres. Key topics of interest for health information and training included prevention and promotion (60%) and infectious diseases (24%), especially tuberculosis, dengue and HIV/AIDS. Only 2% of respondents expressed interest in receiving training on eHealth and telemedicine.
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Copyright (c) 2015 Lilia Judith Perez-Chavolla, Lady Murrugarra, Salim Mohanna
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