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Combating Infant Mortality In Rural India: Evidence From A Field Study Of Ehealth Kiosk Imlementations, Viswanath Venkatesh, Arun Rai, Tracy Ann Sykes, Ruba Aljafari

Computer Information Systems Faculty Publications

The United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals listed high infant mortality rates as a major problem in developing countries, especially in rural areas. Given the powerful information dissemination capabilities, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been suggested as interventions to build infant care awareness and to modify healthcare behaviors. We examine how the use of one ICT intervention—specifically, eHealth kiosks disseminating authenticated and accessible medical information—can alleviate the problem of high infant mortality in rural India. We investigate how mothers’ social networks affect their use of eHealth kiosks, seeking professional medical care for their infants and, ultimately, infant mortality. Drawing on …