Development of a mHealth program to improve childhood illness management in a resource-limited setting in Peru

background: Extensive uptake of mobile phones offers an unprecedented opportunity to improve global healthcare delivery, especially among underserved populations. Mobile health (mHealth) is increasingly recognized as a promising approach to addressing challenges in global maternal-child health and may play an important role in accelerating progress towards improved outcomes. However, more evidence guiding development of mHealth interventions is needed. objective: To conduct a formative evaluation of a proposed mHealth program designed to educate caregivers of young children on common childhood illness management. methods: A cluster-randomized sample of 220 mothers living in Arequipa, Peru with at least one child under five completed an iPad-based survey. Descriptive statistics were used to explore trends in mobile phone ownership, feasibility of use, and interest in mHealth across sociodemographic categories. Fisher’s exact tests examined associations between ownership, feasibility, and interest and each sociodemographic group. results: Approximately 82% of participants reported mobile phone ownership. The majority of mothers were confident in their ability to use text messaging, but younger participants and those with higher education were generally more comfortable with opening, reading, writing, and sending text messages. Over 85% of mothers were motivated to use their mobile phones to receive child health advice and to seek help when someone is sick. conclusions: This study underscores the potential for mHealth to improve global healthcare delivery in the area of maternal-child health. Our findings confirm widespread access to mobile phones, sufficient ability to utilize text messaging, and substantial interest in using mobile phones for health-related purposes within this community.