Development of an Upper Extremity {Stroke Rehabilitation mHealth Application for sub-Saharan Africa: A Usability Study

Abstract

There is unambiguous evidence that post-stroke rehabilitation facilitates motor recovery and improves quality of life and functional independence. However, there are vast differences in the approach to stroke rehabilitation within sub-Saharan Africa, which are primarily driven by the availability of resources and access to rehabilitation services. The recent global explosion of the adoption of internet communication technologies (ICT), particularly in the case of mobile phones, in subSaharan Africa presents an exciting opportunity to address this need. In this study we co-designed and evaluated the usability of a community-based mHealth application (the outREACH system) for the delivery of personalizable upper extremity stroke assessment and rehabilitation for patients who live in low-resource settings without access to standard rehabilitation services. The results of this work will be used to develop a fully functional system that can be used in clinical rehabilitation of stroke.