Use of Mobile Health (mHealth) Technologies and Interventions Among Community Health Workers Globally: A Scoping Review

There is mounting evidence to show that community health workers (CHWs) play a positive role in improving population health by connecting people to information, resources, and services. However, barriers faced by CHWs include not being able to access information quickly and in a language tailored to the communities they serve. Mobile health (mHealth) shows promise of bridging this gap. Although there are a number of studies published on mHealth interventions, there is a need to synthesize the literature specific to mHealth and CHWs globally. Therefore, the primary goals of this review are to identify and describe over ten years of studies on the use, effectiveness, and potential of mHealth involving CHWs. Findings provide evidence-based strategies for designing and implementing mHealth tools for and with CHWs. We used criteria and methodology for scoping reviews established by the Joanna Briggs Institute as well as PRISMA protocols. We searched scholarly databases for peer-reviewed articles published between 2007 and 2018. The initial search yielded 207 published articles; after applying inclusion criteria, the sample totaled 64. While research about mHealth use among CHWs is still emerging, we found out that large-scale, longitudinal, and clinical studies are lacking. The existing evidence indicates that interventions, which include both CHWs and mHealth tools, are effective. Challenges include the scarcity of culturally relevant mHealth interventions, lack of a consistent methodology to assess mHealth outcomes, the need for effective training for CHWs to adopt mHealth tools, and improved communication within health care teams working with CHWs.