Science Journal of Public Health

| Peer-Reviewed |

Deploying Actor -Network Theory to Analyse Telemedicine Implementation in Ghana

Received: 27 March 2013    Accepted:     Published: 30 May 2013
Views:       Downloads:

Share This Article

Abstract

This paper presents the pan African eNetwork for Telemedicine and Tele-education programme being run at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Ghana. The study sought to understand eHealth implementation in low resource settings through the lens of actor-network theory. This theory is based on the sociology of translations, and was employed as a framework for exploring the pan African Telemedicine programme. Data collection was done between October, 2011 and June 2012, through triangulation of qualitative methods: interviews, participant observation, and document analysis. A total of 30 human and non-human actors’ were identified and semi-structured face-to-face interviews conducted with the human actors. Translation, the mechanism of progressive temporal social orders, or the transformation from one order to another through changes in the alignment of interest in a heterogeneous network (Sarker, Sarker and Sidorova, 2006), has not been effective and thus implementation of the eNetwork has not been successful. Future studies should focus on staff acceptance of the eNetwork

DOI 10.11648/j.sjph.20130102.15
Published in Science Journal of Public Health (Volume 1, Issue 2, May 2013)
Page(s) 77-84
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Ghana, Telemedicine, Health, Actor Network Theory

References
[1] ACCORD, (2009). HEALTH CARE IN GHANA. March 2009. Accessed on 04/23/2013 from http://www.ecoi.net/file_upload/90_1236873017_accord-health-care-in-ghana-20090312.pdf
[2] Callon, M. (1991), "Techno-Economic Networks & Irreversibility in sociology of Monsters: Essays on Power, Technology and Domination, (Law, J. Ed.) Routledge, London, pp. 132-161
[3] Callon, M. (1986), "The sociology of an actor-network: The case of the electric vehicle". (in J. L. Callon and A. R. Houndmills Ed., Mapping the dynamics of science and technology: Sociology of science in the real world), London: Macmillan.
[4] Callon, M. (1986), "Some elements of a sociology of translation: Domestication of the scallops and the fishermen of St. Brieuc Bay".(in J. Law Ed., Power, action and belief: A new sociology of knowledge?), London, Boston, and Henley: Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp. 196-233.
[5] Callon, M 1987, 'Society in the making: The study of technology as a tool for sociological analysis', in WE Bijeker, T Hughes & T Pinch (eds), The social construction of technology systems: New Directions in the Sociology and history of Technology, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England, pp. 83-103.
[6] Callon, M. and B. Latour (1981), "Unscrewing the big leviathan: How actors macro-structure reality and how sociologists help them to do so".(in K. D. Knorr- Cetina and A. V. C. (Ed., Advances in Social Theory and Methodology: Towards an Integration of Micro and Macro-Sociologies), London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, pp. 277-303.
[7] Creswell, J.W. (2003). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches. 2nd ed. London: Sage Publications, Inc.
[8] Cressman, D. (2009). A brief overview of Actor-network theory: Punctualization, Heterogeneous Engineering & Translation, ACT Lab/Center for Policy Research on Science & Technology (CPROST) School of Communication, Simon Fraser University, Canada.
[9] Denzin, N.K. (1989). The research acts (3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice hall
[10] Eleeza, B. J (2005). ICT to facilitate health care delivery –Doctor. http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/health/artikel.php?ID=95227 assessed on 15/02/2013
[11] Hanseth, O., M. Aanestad, et al. (2004), "Guest editors' introduction: Actor network
[12] Hanseth, O. and E. Monteiro (1997), "Inscribing behavior in information infrastructure standards." Accounting, Management & Information Technology, Vol: 7, No:4, pp.183-211.
[13] Hassard, J., Law, J., & Lee, N. (1999). "Preface." Organization: Special Issue on Actor-Network Theory. 6 (3), pp. 387-390.
[14] Houston T and Houston J (2000). Is telemedicine a practical reality? Association for Computing Machinery. Communications of the ACM, 43(6), 91-95.
[15] Hjelm NM. (2005). Benefits and drawbacks of telemedicine. J Telemed Telecare. 2005; 11(2):60-70.
[16] IRIN - Integrated Regional Information Network: Ghana: Race Against Time To Cut Maternal Mortality, 5 August 2008 http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=79645 (accessed 04/23/2013) In ACCORD, (2009). HEALTH CARE IN GHANA. March 2009
[17] Latour, B (2005). Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Netowrk–Theory (Oxford: Oxford University Press)
[18] Madon, S., Sahay, S., and Sahay, J. (2004) Implementing property tax reforms in Bangalore: An actor-network perspective. Information and Organization 14: 269–295.
[19] Mbarika, Victor Wacham A. (2004): Is telemedicine the panacea for Sub-Saharan Africa's medical nightmare? Commun. ACM 47(7): 21-24
[20] Murdoch J, 1997, "Inhuman/nonhuman/human: actor-network theory and the prospects for a nondualistic and symmetrical perspective on nature and society" Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 15(6) 731 – 756
[21] Monteiro, E. & Hanseth, O. (1996) Social shaping of information infrastructure: on being specific about the technology. In: Information Technology and Changes in Organisational Work, Orlikowski, W.,Walsham, G., Jones, M.R. & Degross, J (Eds.), pp.325-343. Chapman & Hall.
[22] Sarker, S, Sarker, S and Sidorova, A (2006). Understanding Business Process Change failure: An Actor-Network Perspective. Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 23, no. 1, pp.51-86
[23] Sodzi-Tettey, S (2007): GMA@50: Ghana‟s health. Ghana Medical Journal. September 2007 Volume 41, Number 3
[24] Shekelle PG, Morton SC, Keeler EB. Costs and benefits of health information technology. Evid Rep Technol Assess (Full Rep) 2006:1e71.
[25] Mitev, N. (2000), Toward social constructivist understandings of IS success and failure: introducing a new computerized reservation system, International Conference on Information Systems archive. Queensland, Australia
[26] Tan, J., M. Kifle, V. Mbarika, and C. Okoli (2005). E-medicine diffusion: E-medicine in Developed and Developing Countries. Chapter 8 in E-health Paradigm Shift: Perspectives, Domains and Challenges.
[27] Van den Boom, G.J.M; Nsowah-Nuamah, N.N.N.; Overbosch, G.B: Healthcare Provision and Self-medication in Ghana, October 2004 (accessed via Web Archive) http://web.archive.org/web/20070625163825/http://www.saga.cornell.edu/images/vandenboom.pdf (accessed 04/23/2013) In ACCORD, (2009). HEALTH CARE IN GHANA. March 2009
[28] Wootton R, Hebert MA. What constitutes success in telecare? Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare 2001;7 (suppl. 2):3–7
[29] Walsham, G. & Sahay, S. (1999), "GIS for District-Level Administration in India: Problems and Opportunities", MIS Quarterly, 23(1), 39 - 66.
[30] Walsham, G. (1997), "Actor-network theory and IS research: current status and future prospects," IN Lee, A., Liebenau, J. & Degross, J. (Eds.) Information systems and qualitative research. London, Chapman and Hall
Author Information
  • Candidate, Open University of Malaysia/Accra Institute of Technology, Accra;Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Ghana

  • Chief Executive Officer, Global eHealth Consultants, Geneva, Switzerland;Executive Director, International Society for Telemedicine and eHealth (ISfTeH), Geneva, Switzerland

Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Eben Afarikumah, S. Yunkap Kwankam. (2013). Deploying Actor -Network Theory to Analyse Telemedicine Implementation in Ghana. Science Journal of Public Health, 1(2), 77-84. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20130102.15

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Eben Afarikumah; S. Yunkap Kwankam. Deploying Actor -Network Theory to Analyse Telemedicine Implementation in Ghana. Sci. J. Public Health 2013, 1(2), 77-84. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20130102.15

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Eben Afarikumah, S. Yunkap Kwankam. Deploying Actor -Network Theory to Analyse Telemedicine Implementation in Ghana. Sci J Public Health. 2013;1(2):77-84. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20130102.15

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.sjph.20130102.15,
      author = {Eben Afarikumah and S. Yunkap Kwankam},
      title = {Deploying Actor -Network Theory to Analyse Telemedicine Implementation in Ghana},
      journal = {Science Journal of Public Health},
      volume = {1},
      number = {2},
      pages = {77-84},
      doi = {10.11648/j.sjph.20130102.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20130102.15},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjph.20130102.15},
      abstract = {This paper presents the pan African eNetwork for Telemedicine and Tele-education programme being run at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Ghana. The study sought to understand eHealth implementation in low resource settings through the lens of actor-network theory. This theory is based on the sociology of translations, and was employed as a framework for exploring the pan African Telemedicine programme. Data collection was done between October, 2011 and June 2012, through triangulation of qualitative methods: interviews, participant observation, and document analysis. A total of 30 human and non-human actors’ were identified and semi-structured face-to-face interviews conducted with the human actors. Translation, the mechanism of progressive temporal social orders, or the transformation from one order to another through changes in the alignment of interest in a heterogeneous network (Sarker, Sarker and Sidorova, 2006), has not been effective and thus implementation of the eNetwork has not been successful. Future studies should focus on staff acceptance of the eNetwork},
     year = {2013}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Deploying Actor -Network Theory to Analyse Telemedicine Implementation in Ghana
    AU  - Eben Afarikumah
    AU  - S. Yunkap Kwankam
    Y1  - 2013/05/30
    PY  - 2013
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20130102.15
    DO  - 10.11648/j.sjph.20130102.15
    T2  - Science Journal of Public Health
    JF  - Science Journal of Public Health
    JO  - Science Journal of Public Health
    SP  - 77
    EP  - 84
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7950
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20130102.15
    AB  - This paper presents the pan African eNetwork for Telemedicine and Tele-education programme being run at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Ghana. The study sought to understand eHealth implementation in low resource settings through the lens of actor-network theory. This theory is based on the sociology of translations, and was employed as a framework for exploring the pan African Telemedicine programme. Data collection was done between October, 2011 and June 2012, through triangulation of qualitative methods: interviews, participant observation, and document analysis. A total of 30 human and non-human actors’ were identified and semi-structured face-to-face interviews conducted with the human actors. Translation, the mechanism of progressive temporal social orders, or the transformation from one order to another through changes in the alignment of interest in a heterogeneous network (Sarker, Sarker and Sidorova, 2006), has not been effective and thus implementation of the eNetwork has not been successful. Future studies should focus on staff acceptance of the eNetwork
    VL  - 1
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

  • Sections