Ghana

The use of mobile medical apps in clinical settings has recently received considerable attention. While some practitioners are using this technology to optimize decision making, others, on the other hand, are indifferent about its usage. Therefore, this study has utilized a modified UTAUT2 model to determine factors that influence the acceptance and use of mobile medical apps among professional nurses in the Ghanaian setting. A web-based data collection tool (Google Forms) was used to solicit data from 216 health professionals. Of the 216 respondents, 126 (58.33%) of them were Public Health Nurses, with 85 (39.35%) being General Nurses, and the remaining 5 (2.32%) were midwives, resulting in an average age of 31.57±4.14 years. The study used a previously validated self-administered questionnaire (UTAUT 2) to find out factors that informed respondents to adopt and use mobile medical apps. The findings established that professional qualification, gender, and the number of years that the individual had used smartphones were key determinants in accepting and using mobile medical apps. That is why this study makes the case that using technology in clinical practice has enormous advantages. It is, however, important to understand the factors that will influence the intention to adopt such technologies and their possible use.

This study takes a rural development perspective to examine the various reasons behind the use of children under 18 years in cocoa farms in Ghana. Using descriptive research, a sample size of 385 cocoa farmers was selected through the multi-stage sampling technique. The analyses included mean, standard deviation, frequency, percentage, and perception index. Although the level of usage of children on cocoa farms was relatively low (74%), majority of the children were involved in nursing of cocoa seedlings (87.8%), digging of holes for seedlings (76.3%), gathering of pods (55.7%) and heaping of pods (53.9%). Farmers involved children on cocoa farms for the following three reasons; to acquire indigenous knowledge of farming patterns (Mean=2.18), it is a way of life to learn their parents' occupation (Mean=2.18), and income source of the household (Mean=2.11). The challenge most farmers face in the use of children for farm activities is the fact that the children do not meet the required strength/energy (Mean=2.48). Policy efforts towards the complete eradication of using children under 18 years on cocoa farms must take into consideration the rural nature of the environments in which cocoa farming takes place in order not for it to backfire as is the case currently.