Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Integrated Article

Degree

Master of Health Information Science

Program

Health Information Science

Collaborative Specialization

Global Health Systems in Africa

Supervisor

Elysée Nouvet

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) also known as drones have significant potential in the healthcare field. Ethical and practical concerns, challenges, and complexities of using drones for specific and diverse healthcare purposes have been minimally explored to date. This thesis aims to document, and advance awareness of diverse context-specific concerns, challenges, and complexities encountered by individuals working on the front lines of drones for health projects. It draws on original qualitative research and data from semi-structured interviews (N = 16) with drones for health program managers and field staff in nine countries. Directed thematic analysis was used to analyze interviews and identify key ethical and practical concerns, challenges, and complexities experienced by participants in their work with drones for health projects. This thesis shows how the key ethical and practical concerns, challenges, and complexities are interrelated. Concerns and challenges can be mitigated through the development of appropriate guidelines and regulations and community engagement initiatives.

Summary for Lay Audience

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) also known as drones is now expanding into the healthcare field. Drones are being used to deliver medical supplies, biological samples, live vector, and for mapping. The implementation of new health technologies in healthcare can potentially raise new ethical and practical concerns, challenges, and complexities. It is important to identify and understand these concerns, challenges, and complexities prior to introducing these technologies so that those introducing these health technologies are better prepared to mitigate any potential issues. Recognizing how local customs and cultures shape concerns, challenges, and complexities is especially important when these health technologies are being introduced at the global level. Currently, there exists limited literature that describe the challenges of implementing drones in the context of healthcare delivery.

This thesis aims to document and advance awareness of diverse context-specific concerns, challenges, and complexities encountered by individuals working on the front lines of drones for health. It does so based on interviews with 16 individuals from nine countries that have experiencing introducing drones for healthcare programs. The interviews provide these individuals with the opportunity to describe their experiences of introducing drones for healthcare programs. Through the analysis of these interviews key ethical and practical concerns, challenges, and complexities were identified. This thesis outlines how key ethical and practical concerns, challenges, and complexities are interrelated. It also proposes that concerns and challenges can be mitigated through the development of appropriate guidelines and regulations and community engagement initiatives that are created with appropriate stakeholders and communities that are impacted by these drones for health projects.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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