Lessening barriers to healthcare in rural Ghana: providers and users' perspectives on the role of mHealth technology. A qualitative exploration.

Background: Key barriers to healthcare use in rural Ghana include those of economic, social, cultural and institutional. Amid this, though rarely recognised in Ghanaian healthcare settings, mHealth technology has emerged as a viable tool for lessening most healthcare barriers in rural areas due to the high mobile phone penetration and possession rate. This qualitative study provides an exploratory assessment of the role of mHealth in reducing healthcare barriers in rural areas from the perspective of healthcare users and providers.

Knowledge, attitude, and use of mHealth technology among students in Ghana: A university-based survey.

Background: Interest in mHealth interventions, defined as the use of mobile phones to access healthcare is increasingly becoming popular globally. Given its technology-based applications, university students may be key clients of the mHealth adoption but studies are rare in sub-Saharan Africa. This study provides a snapshot and baseline evidence on knowledge, attitude and use of mHealth among university students in Ghana.

"I prefer a male nurse to a female nurse": patients' preference for, and satisfaction with nursing care provided by male nurses at the Komfo Anokye teaching hospital.

Background: Although most male nurses join the profession for self-actualisation, the cultural and societal stereotyping of male nurses as "He-Man", "gay" and "troublemakers", and their marginalisation at the hospital during certain personal and intimate care procedures, tend to deepen the existing gender discrimination prevalent within the nursing profession. This study therefore assessed patients' preference for, and satisfaction with nursing care provided by male nurses at the medical and surgical wards of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital [KATH].

Methods: An inferential cross-sectional study design, in which the prevalence of a condition among an identified population is determined, was used.

A survey of the genesis of stress and its effect on the academic performance of midwifery students in a college in Ghana.

Objective: This study assesses the genesis of stress among midwifery students in Ghana and its impact on their academic performance.

Design: A contextual cross-sectional design was used, and data were drawn from a 17-modified-item response from the College Undergraduate Stress Scale (CUSS), a rating of students' academic performance and stress management techniques.

Setting: The study took place at the Saint Michael's Midwifery Training School located at Pramso, within the Bosomtwe District, Ashanti Region, Ghana.

'We are nothing without herbs': a story of herbal remedies use during pregnancy in rural Ghana.

Background: Herbal medicine has become the panacea for many rural pregnant women in Ghana despite the modern western antenatal care which has developed in most parts of the country. To our knowledge, previous studies investigating herbal medicine use have primarily reported general attitudes and perceptions of use, overlooking the standpoint of pregnant women and their attitudes, and utilisation of herbal medicine in Ghana. Knowledge of herbal medicine use among rural pregnant women and the potential side effects of many herbs in pregnancy are therefore limited in the country; this qualitative study attempts to address this gap by exploring the perceptions of herbal medicine usage among pregnant women in rural Ghana.

Correction to: Religion and health: exploration of attitudes and health perceptions of faith healing users in urban Ghana.

It was highlighted that the original article [1] contained a typesetting error in the name of Razak M. Gyasi. This was incorrectly captured as Razak M.

Religion and Health: exploration of attitudes and health perceptions of faith healing users in urban Ghana.

Background: The main aim of the study was to explore the attitudes and health perceptions of faith healing users in Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana. This has become necessary because faith healing practice is an important area but remains neglected in the health care literature. In an age when biowestern medicine is touted as the cure for most diseases, understanding how and why individuals seek alternative treatment, specifically faith healing modalities may help to develop more effective health care interventions.

Geographical Differences in Perceived Health Status Among Older Adults in Ghana: Do Gender and Educational Status Matter?

Studies have constantly reported mixed evidence on the associations between rural/urban differences and self-rated health (SRH) status among older populations. More importantly, the roles of other relevant sociodemographic characteristics such as gender and educational levels in these associations are mostly overlooked. The current study examines the geographical differences in SRH of older cohorts in Kumasi Metropolis and Bosomtwe District of Ghana.