The Utilization Of Information Communication And Technology By Mothers In Accessing Maternal And Child Health Information

1.2 Statement of the problem

Maternal and Child Health (MCH) care is the most cost effective intervention of the primary health care to prevent maternal and child mortality and to improve the health of mothers and their children(Adamu, 2011). Pregnancy and childbearing is a joyful thing in the society which every woman is expected to go through, though it is associated with a lot of complications which may cause morbidities and mortalities. MCH is one of the greatest achievements of public health care in Nigeria which provides dramatic improvement in the health of mothers and children and also improves their standard of living generally.the utilization of ICT platforms may pose some challenges. The first is misinformation or information overload. However, information accessed through some ICT platforms are unregulated and may be of low quality or out rightly erroneous(Adamu, 2011). Users of such platforms may be ignorant of these facts. Another challenge is the effect that the use of ICT can have on doctor-patient relationship since patients may repeatedly turn to ICT platforms which may lead to misdiagnosis. Therefore, the study will examine the utilization of information communication and technology by mothers in accessing Maternal and Child Health information.

1.3 Objective of the study

The general objective of the study is to examine the utilization of information communication and technology by mothers in accessing Maternal and Child Health information. Specifically, the study will be guided under the following:

i. To examine the methods mothers adopt in accessing MCH information using ICT.

ii. To find out the challenges encountered by mothers in accessing MCH information using ICT.

iii. To investigate the benefit of mothers in using ICT on maternal and child health information.

1.4 Research Questions

The following questions have been prepared for this study:

i. What are the methods mothers adopt in accessing MCH information using ICT?

ii. What are the challenges encountered by mothers in accessing MCH information using ICT?

iii. What are the benefit of mothers in using ICT on maternal and child health information?

1.5 Significance of the study

This study will be significant to the ministry of health as it will expose them to the lapses in the use of ICT in other for mothers easy access to  maternal and child health information.

The study will be significant to the academic community as it will contribute to the existing literature.

1.6 Scope of the study

The study will examine the methods mothers adopt in accessing MCH information using ICT. The study will also find out the challenges encountered by mothers in accessing MCH information using ICT. Lastly, the study will investigate the benefit of mothers in using ICT on maternal and child health information. Hence this study will be delimited to the mother and child hospital Akure, Ondo State.

1.7 Limitation of the study

Time constraints

The researcher finds it difficult to go round all the bank branches due to limited time availability, as a result of this, the data were only collected from few banks randomly.

Inadequate data

Electronic banking  is a recent developed system in which not all banks have embraced, those that have embraced it were able to give their information to the researcher and those that have not fully embraced it were unable to give accurate data to researcher.

Lack of funds

Due to the nature of this work, researcher find it difficult to raise the funds needed to carry out the research appropriately, as a result of this, few banks branches were selected based on the available finance to enable researcher get the needed information.

1.8Definition of terms

ICT: information communications technology.

Maternal and child health : the health of mothers, infants, children, and adolescents