Author: Rajan Parajuli
AIT Library Call Number: AIT Diss. no.GD-19-02
Year: 2019
Academic Program: Gender and Development Studies (GDS)
Type: Thesis (Ph. D.) – Asian Institute of Technology, 2019
Examination Committee: Philippe Doneys (Chairperson); Kyoko Kusakabe, Vatcharaporn Esichaikul (Examination Committee Members)
Abstract: With the continuous growth of Information and Communication Technologies (lCTs), telemedicine has opened up new possibilities of delivering remote healthcare services. However, these new forms of technology-based healthcare services are both overlooked and under-researched from a gender perspective. Since gender is known to influence the access and use of technology and healthcare services, this study aims to explore the gender dimensions of telemedicine services in rural Nepal, particularly focusing on access to and uses oftelemedicine technology and services, benefits that men and women have obtained from these services, and barriers they have encountered while receiving telemedicine services. Data were collected through a mixed method consisting of questionnaires survey, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions with mobile phone and video conference-based telemedicine users. A total of 203 telemedicine users (125 from mobile phone-based and 78 from video conference-based telemedicine) were selected using simple random sampling for the survey. Out of them, 32 users (both video conference-based and mobile phone-based) were selected purposively and interviewed as a subset of the survey sample. In addition, 12 key informant interviews and 3 focus group discussions were also conducted to supplement the data. Survey data were analyzed using percentages, cross tabulation, graphs, Chi square test, Mann- Whitney U test and Weighted Average Index (WAI) while interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis. This study reveals that telemedicine services have been expanding in rural Nepal. Such services have provided several benefits to both women and men, and some of the benefits had a clear gender outcome. For instance, telemedicine decreased travel time, which helps women and girls access timely healthcare services and improve time management for household chores and other activities. Similarly, reduction in travel expenses has helped women tackle some ofthe gender- based financial c
Scholarship Donor(s): Asian Institute of Technology Fellowship
Note: A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctoral of Philosophy in Gender and Development Studies
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