Equitable Healthcare Provision: Uncovering the Impact of the Mobility Effect on Human Development
ABSTRACT: Even though the effects of mobile phone and internet usage on the health and wellbeing of a population are becoming apparent, few studies have uncovered the nature of this relationship to the equitable provision of healthcare. The contribution is in discovering the relationships between mobility effects and human development where inequities in income play an important role, the relationships to socio-economic development and in showing how the mobility effect can assist in addressing health inequities.
Keywords: Human development, Healthcare, socio-economic development, IThealth
Extending Human Capabilities through Information Technology Applications and Infrastructures
ABSTRACT: Many studies explore the ways in which information technology can bring about improvements in people’s lives by considering aspects of how it is used, applied in various communities and countries and how it affects certain key economic indicators such as growth. In particular, it appears that human development can be enabled through access and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) by enabling personal freedoms to be achieved. Sen (1999) suggests that in order to achieve Development, people need to be able to extend their capabilities so that they can access resources, earn an income and achieve their personal goals. The freedom of choice to be able to take opportunities that will enable people to earn an income is according to Sen (1999) alleviating poverty in developed as well as countries that are considered developing. Income is needed in order to enable people to get an education, healthcare and achieve other personal goals. Yet a key aspect of Sen’s capability perspective is that income is only a means to achieve the ends that people want to pursue if given the freedoms to do so. This is central to an understanding of development as a means of offering people the freedom to achieve their aims
Keywords: Healthcare, IT infrastructure, Human Capabilities, e-business, Community Telecenters
Extending Human Capabilities through Information Technology Applications and Infrastructures
ABSTRACT: Many studies explore the ways in which information technology can bring about improvements in people’s lives by considering aspects of how it is used, applied in various communities and countries and how it affects certain key economic indicators such as growth. In particular, it appears that human development can be enabled through access and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) by enabling personal freedoms to be achieved. Sen (1999) suggests that in order to achieve Development, people need to be able to extend their capabilities so that they can access resources, earn an income and achieve their personal goals. The freedom of choice to be able to take opportunities that will enable people to earn an income is according to Sen (1999) alleviating poverty in developed as well as countries that are considered developing. Income is needed in order to enable people to get an education, healthcare and achieve other personal goals. Yet a key aspect of Sen’s capability perspective is that income is only a means to achieve the ends that people want to pursue if given the freedoms to do so. This is central to an understanding of development as a means of offering people the freedom to achieve their aims
Keywords: Healthcare, IT infrastructure, Human Capabilities, e-business, Community Telecenters
In the Age of Popular Uprisings, what is the Role of Public Access Computing and Social Media on Development?
ABSTRACT: Civic engagement has long been touted as a key to enabling people to participate in their collective destiny and take control of their collective good. Recent events in Egypt have shown us that the will of the people is powerful, even though people's opinions, preferences, and political affiliations diverge. The role of social media in enabling coalitions to form, congregate in large numbers, and overthrow the governments they oppose appears to have become prominent. It appears that with these uprisings, social media are transforming the ways in which people choose to take control of their collective lives, that of their communities and societies. Social media and public access to the Internet serve as platforms supporting the creation of social coalitions and civic engagement, for better or for worse, bring about new ways people can quest for better livelihoods. The concept of development is emerging with these changes from being primarily supported through institutions to one in which these very institutions are part of the change that could lead to their destruction. For example, the heavy-handed nature of a military government's interventions could cause greater upheaval that in turn limits its legitimacy and remit for action unless they are aligned with the will of their people. While at the same time, government support, community acceptance, and valuable social activity in the relevant social groups are important in the creation of institutions of development supported by information and communication technologies (ICTs) as evidenced in studies reported by Madon, Reinhard, Roode, and Walsham (2009).
Keywords: Human development, Information and Communication Technologies, Healthcare, ICT-enabled service, social capital
Information technology for development in expanding capabilities
ABSTRACT: The concept of development continues to evolve as information and communication technologies (ICTs) are applied in innovative ways to support the needs of people living with very limited resources. While it appears that the implementation of ICT infrastructures in underserved communities and in less developed countries (LDCs) may not always lead to the benefits expected in terms of efficiency and cost effectiveness, there appear to be benefits in using ICTs to support the human capabilities. In their call for a more “strategic developmental focus” Thompson and Walsham (2010) suggest that the conception, development, implementation, and use of ICT functions as an explicit vehicle for furthering developmental aims. By this they mean that ICTs in themselves cannot be seen as an end to development efforts, but more as enabling sets of social behaviors. At the same time development agencies appear to view ICTs as an end to their efforts to alleviate poverty, provide healthcare and better government services. Brown and Grant (2010) state that although the extent to which the benefits of ICTs can be realized remains to be seen, it is this perceived capacity to provide broad, far-reaching and even revolutionary, socio-economic change that has brought ICT to the center of the development discourse. They identify a duality between research in ICT for development and ICT in developing countries in which contributions to development from researching ICTs in developing contexts are not often forthcoming. They argue that both these streams of research are being carried out in parallel with little or no overlap with each other (Brown & Grant, 2010).
Keywords: Information and Communication Technologies, Healthcare, strategic developmental focus, information services, e-government initiatives, operational and financial sustainability, mobile libraries
Lessons from the Age of Nelson Mandela: Information and Communication Technology in the Quest for Equality, Freedom and Justice
ABSTRACT: Nelson Mandela passed away on the night of 5 December 2013. After spending 27 years in prison, the civil rights activist led a movement that led to the abolition of his country's notorious apartheid regime which mandated segregation since 1948. After many years of struggle, he was released in 1991 and became the country's first black president in 1994 after a democratic election which also ended apartheid. I was working at the Commonwealth Secretariat at that time when most of my colleagues had monitored the elections in South Africa. One of my colleagues who had just returned from overseeing the elections stated euphorically: “The country has changed, Africa has changed and the world has changed completely … we will never be the same again” she exclaimed. Indeed the newly elected President went on to create programs for job creation, housing, healthcare, education and justice that would ensure equality for all, together with programs for reconstruction and reconciliation. The Huffington Post reported the day after Mandela's passing that it was his charisma and his lack of bitterness over the harsh treatment he faced as a prisoner in Roben Island off the coast of Cape Town that enabled a smooth transition for his government. He continued to gain attention in the media as he ensured that all segments of the population in his country were treated equally and their freedoms preserved. The day after his passing, President Obama praised the South African leader's struggle and accomplishments stating that “He no longer belongs to us, he belongs to the ages … His commitment to transfer power and reconcile with those who jailed him set an example that all humanity should aspire to.” The Economist reported in a series of articles commemorating Mandela's passing that he was a hero who won a long hard battle against Apartheid for his people, but he was not a saint; he was a giant whose passing marked one of the most important struggles of our time: equality, freedom and justice.
Keywords: Healthcare, Communications technology, Human development endowment, ICT Development Index, social media
Outrage and anger in a global pandemic: flipping the script on healthcare
ABSTRACT: Amidst a global pandemic, outrage and anger over the death of a Black man at the hands of a White police officer spread globally. The protests exposed generations of institutional racism and socio-economic inequities in many countries. This editorial explores the socio-economic inequities that have left those in racially segregated marginalized communities most at risk from COVID 19. It offers a cyclical view of the relationship between socio-economic inequities and health outcomes, suggesting that once these inequities are addressed, then health outcomes can improve. There is an important role to be played by ICTs in enabling a positive cycle to take place. The papers in this issue reflect the ways in which the socio-economic indicators can be increased to support better health outcomes for people in low SES communities. They uncover the key issues facing communities offering healthcare service to their constituents and move the field forward by showing the ways in which ICTs may support a positive cycle of development and health outcomes.
Keywords: COVID-19, socio-economic inequities, Healthcare, World Economic Forum, Outrage
Social and economic perspectives on the role of information and communication technology for development
ABSTRACT: Development is an improvement in the lives of people and their communities. When investigating the effects of information technology on development, we study the ways in which technologies that enable information to be communicated improve the lives of people in their communities, regions, countries, or even groups of countries. This can be studied by investigating the social impacts on development of the technologies. The social concept of development suggests that people participate in improving their circumstances through the development of healthcare, education, environment, and community services (Apthorpe, 1999; Arce, 2003; Midgley, 2003). Social development considers improvements in the lives of people through programs in healthcare, education, and the environment that are often implemented by governments. When governments make use of information and communication technologies to improve their services, they might also contribute to social development. Some authors suggest that governments make policy based on discourse that has recourse to neat, easily available and powerfully constructed sets of institutional, legislative, and financial resources (Apthorpe, 1999; Midgley, 2003). These policies are implemented to bring about social development. Social development activities are designed to raise living standards, increase local participation in development, and address the needs of vulnerable and oppressed groups (Midgley, 2003). Economic development is a means of studying development that considers improvements in the lives of people through income generation, job creation, and other factors such as trade and migration. Theories of economic development try to predict the choices people make in order to improve the quality of their lives and offer tools that policy makers can use to balance the cyclical changes in economies. Development theorists such as Schumpeter (2002) offer empirical evidence of how economies can benefit from innovation, education, and foreign investments. The papers in this issue offer compelling contributions to both social and economic development and into the role of information and communication technology in bringing this about.
Keywords: Healthcare, Economic Prosperity, Academic Libraries, Human Resource Development, Social development
The Effect of Mobile Health and Social Inequalities on Human Development and Health Outcomes: Mhealth for Health Equity
ABSTRACT: The equitable provision of healthcare entails the distribution of resources and other processes to overcome health inequality. The concept of heath equity suggests that differences in social and economic backgrounds of people affect their ability to lead the lives they choose to live. Following a review of what is known about health equity, social determinants of health equity and the role of mobile health, this paper investigates the relationship between mHealth, social inequalities in life expectancy and in education on Human Development and Health and Wellbeing. The analysis discovers a significant relationship between mHealth, social inequalities in human development and health outcomes. These findings have important implications for the use of mHealth applications to achieve health equity. The contribution of this paper is in understanding the role of social inequalities in and mHealth in enabling people to bring about improvements in the lives they lead and in their health outcomes.
Keywords: Health equity, Human development, mHealth, Healthcare, wellbeing