Determinants of readiness to adopt mHealth in a rural community of Bangladesh

Introduction Evidence in favor of mHealth for healthcare delivery in settings where trained health workforce is limited or unavailable is accumulating. With rapid growth in access to mobile phones and an acute shortage of health workforce in Bangladesh, mHealth initiatives are increasing with more than 20 current initiatives in place. "Readiness" is a crucial prerequisite to the successful implementation of telehealth programs. However, systematic assessment of the community readiness for mHealth-based services in the country is lacking. We report on a recent study describing the influence of community readiness for mHealth of a rural Bangladesh community. Methods A conceptual framework for mHealth readiness was developed, which included three categories: technological, motivational and resource readiness. This guided the questionnaire development for…