What encourages community health workers to use mobile technologies for health interventions? Emerging lessons from rural Rwanda

Abstract This article explores the determinants of using mobile phone technologies for public health ( mH ealth) through a quantitative study with community health workers ( CHW s) in rural Rwanda. A total of 72 CHW s from two districts in Rwanda who were using the mH ealth tool, Rapid SMS , were surveyed in June 2014. Using a socio‐technical approach, user, programme and technical characteristics were tested and deemed influential in determining use. Technical characteristics (reminders and alerts) were by far the strongest predicting factors of use. The user characteristic, age, had no influence on utilization, while supports though training and supervision (programme characteristics) revealed mixed findings. These findings illustrate the uniqueness of each context and reiterate the need to consider social and technical factors when implementing mH ealth projects.