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dc.contributor.author | De Leo, Gianluca![]() |
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dc.contributor.author | Romski, MaryAnn![]() |
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dc.contributor.author | King, Marika![]() |
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dc.contributor.author | Renzi, Marco![]() |
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dc.contributor.author | Sevcik, Rose A.![]() |
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dc.contributor.author | Bornman, Juan![]() |
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dc.date.accessioned | 2024-07-30T08:24:45Z | |
dc.date.available | 2024-07-30T08:24:45Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2024-04 | |
dc.description.abstract | BACKGROUND : Evidence-based mobile health (mHealth) interventions have been successful for an array of physical and mental health conditions. Children with developmental disorders (DD) often have secondary speech and language disorders. The lack of high-quality medical and educational services in low- and middle-income countries limits the opportunities for children with DD to succeed in life. South Africa currently offers limited access to education, social, and health services. METHODS : Twelve caregivers of twelve children with DD between the ages of 3 and 6 years who already received monthly early childhood therapy participated in this study. A mHealth app, called Nna’Le’wena, a Setswana phrase meaning “Me and You”, was designed, developed, installed, and tested on tablets. The app provided a systematic framework and guidance to the caregivers in order to use evidence-based communication interaction strategies with the children over a twelve-week period. The app could be used offline and provided audio instructions in English and Setswana, two dominant languages in South Africa. The app automatically generated log files and collected answers to weekly surveys. At the end of the study, caregivers were asked to evaluate the app by using relevant portions of the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS). RESULTS : Caregivers were able to successfully interact and use the app. The app was well-received and liked by the caregivers. Caregivers listened to the instructional audios in English and Setswana during the 12-week period. They were able to provide communication opportunities to their children during daily living activities, especially during play- and mealtime activities. CONCLUSIONS : The Nna’Le’wena app was successfully deployed and used by caregivers of children with DD. mHealth solutions can be effective and are relatively affordable solutions that can enhance health care and educational delivery in different settings, including in low-and middle-income countries with limited Internet capabilities. | en_US |
dc.description.department | Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) | en_US |
dc.description.librarian | hj2024 | en_US |
dc.description.sdg | SDG-03:Good heatlh and well-being | en_US |
dc.description.sdg | SDG-04:Quality Education | en_US |
dc.description.sponsorship | National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health. | en_US |
dc.description.uri | https://mhealth.amegroups.org | en_US |
dc.identifier.citation | De Leo, G., Romski, M., King, M. et al. 2024, 'A mHealth application for the training of caregivers of children with developmental disorders in South Africa : rationale and initial piloting', mHealth, vol. 10, no. 2, art. 15, pp. 1-11,doi : 10.21037/mhealth-23-49. | en_US |
dc.identifier.issn | 2306-9740 (online) | |
dc.identifier.other | 10.21037/mhealth-23-49 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/97320 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
dc.publisher | AME Publishing Company | en_US |
dc.rights | © mHealth. All rights reserved. This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). | en_US |
dc.subject | Developmental disorders | en_US |
dc.subject | Mobile health (mHealth) | en_US |
dc.subject | Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) | en_US |
dc.subject | Training program | en_US |
dc.subject | Caregiver | en_US |
dc.subject | Children with developmental disorders | en_US |
dc.subject | SDG-03: Good health and well-being | en_US |
dc.subject | SDG-04: Quality education | en_US |
dc.title | A mHealth application for the training of caregivers of children with developmental disorders in South Africa : rationale and initial piloting | en_US |
dc.type | Article | en_US |