Thesis (M.H.A.)--University of Michigan, 1975.

Thesis (M.S.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 1936.

Thesis (M.H.A.)--University of Michigan, 1975.

Thesis (M.S.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 1936.

Thesis (M.S.)--Medical University of Ohio, 2005. / "In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences." Major advisor: Michael J. Dennis. Includes abstract. Document formatted into pages: iii, 82 p. Title from title page of PDF document. Title at ETD Web site: A positron emission tomography (PET) system comparison utilizing the American College of Radiology accreditation phantom. Bibliography: pages 43-44.

Thesis (doctoral)--University of Lund, 1981.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, Faculty of Medicine, 1998. / Typescript. Bibliography: leaves 101-107.

With aging populations and rising health care costs, many high-income countries are exploring mobile computing technologies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of health care provision. These technologies, which underpin the field of pervasive computing, introduce a new model of human–computer interaction. Instead of the scenario where a single user interacts with a desk-bound “personal” computer, pervasive computing envisions a world embedded with small, inexpensive, portable networked devices able to communicate seamlessly with each other. In common with resource-rich countries, the field of pervasive computing has the potential to promote and support healthy population development in middle and low-income countries, and this, therefore, has relevance for South Africa. Current estimates suggest that there are between 28 and 32 million mobile phones in South Africa. This means that around 60% of all South Africans own, or have access to, mobile telecommunication. Over 900 000 km2 of the country is covered by the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) network of Vodacom, the largest telecommunications company in the country. Over 90% of South Africa is provided with access to mobile connectivity through shared agreements between the country’s major telecommunications networks. Aims The ubiquity of mobile phones has resulted in their receiving increasing attention from public health researchers. Yet a better understanding of how mobile phones could support health research in South Africa is still an emerging field with many unanswered questions. This thesis attempts to fill some of these gaps in our current knowledge. In particular, the primary aim of this work is to implement and evaluate the use of mobile phones as instruments with which to collect and analyse information for monitoring, evaluation and research in low-resource rural African settings. Methods To investigate this aim, data were gathered from the development, implementation and evaluation of four health surveys in South Africa. Two surveys were conducted with Birth to Twenty, a birth cohort of South African young adults living in Greater Johannesburg. These data were used to better understand the feasibility and data-quality implications of using mobile phones as a tool for the administration of ‘self-administered’ surveys. Two additional surveys, completed in KwaZulu-Natal province, evaluated the same themes of feasibility, acceptability and impact of data quality in mobile-phone-assisted personal (face-to-face) interviews (MPAPI). The first, conducted with 500 HIV-positive pregnant women in eight primary health clinics and 12 interviewers trained to use the mobile-phone survey software, was used to assess the feasibility and acceptability of MPAPI. The final survey compared the difference in data quality achieved by 100 interviewers using either pen and paper, or mobile phones to conduct a short health survey. De Leeuw's conceptual model was used to frame how mode characteristics influence data quality. Results Mobile-phone-assisted interviewing was found to have an impact on the data quality, feasibility and acceptability of health surveys. MPAPI was found to be similar in terms of accuracy and cost to small-scale paper-and-pen interviewing (PAPI) surveys. Time lines and accessibility were improved by the use of MPAPI. Mobile-phone-assisted self-interviewing (MPASI) surveys were found to have a lower survey response but a higher item-completion rate. Acceptability was found to be moderated by technological familiarity and the use patterns of mobile-phone features. Finally, conducting health research using mobile-phone interviews in South Africa was found to be feasible; to reduce the loss of questionnaires, and photocopying and data-entry costs; and to improve the speed at which data becomes available for analysis. Factors that mediated feasibility included the technical expertise of the project management and field staff, the technological know-how of participants, the comprehensiveness of the interviewer training, the mobile communication channel used (e.g., handset-agnostic SMS) and the presence or absence of an interviewer. Conclusion Under the right conditions, mobile-phone-assisted interviewing appears to be a feasible and practical tool for the rapid collection of health information, with data accuracy being the same or better than pen-and-paper interviews. It is argued that these benefits increase as the scale of the survey increases. Improved data can positively influence population health by providing decision makers with more rapid access to accurate data with which to monitor large-scale health systems. Small projects that do not require the rapid availability of data or where staff do not have the appropriate technical proficiencies would be better suited at present to more traditional survey data-collection techniques. Keywords: mobile phones; pervasive computing; mHealth; data collection; survey error

A presente tese de doutorado é o resultado de uma pesquisa-ação sobre a percepção de risco ambiental de moradores em um cortiço vertical na região central da cidade de São Paulo, como parte integrante de um projeto interdisciplinar sobre a requalificação de cortiços verticais, desenvolvido pela Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo e pela Faculdade de Saúde Pública da USP. Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo desenvolver uma metodologia de avaliação de percepção de risco para monitorar e gerenciar as situações de perigo em comunidades que residam em habitações precárias verticalizadas. Por se tratar de uma pesquisa-ação, apresenta um estudo longitudinal de três anos (2003-2006). A metodologia utilizada foi assentada em alguns princípios: a participação popular, a construção de novos conhecimentos, o exercício coletivo de tomada de decisões, a aprendizagem coletiva de novas habilidades e o fortalecimento emancipatório dos moradores. Programas de gerenciamento de risco ambiental voltado para cortiços inexistem em São Paulo; assim a proposta da construção de um plano de gerenciamento pelos moradores tornou-se importante neste processo e valeu-se de estratégias “comuns”, possíveis de serem implantadas pelo poder público e ou replicáveis por outras instituições. A participação da população na tomada de decisões possibilitou uma mudança nas percepções e nos hábitos existentes, motivando-a a formular um gerenciamento mais eficaz dos riscos, promovendo melhorias na qualidade de vida no cortiço. / This study is about the perception of environmental health risks by inhabitants living in a vertical slum building in the central area of São Paulo. This research is part of big social project for requalification of vertical slum buildings. developed by two Post- Graduation Center: Architecture(Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo-FAU) and Public Heath (Faculdade de Saúde Pública _FSP. This study is an action research which takes place in a building finished by its inhabitants. It portrays the reality of poor urban population living under the threats of environmentally hazardous areas. This study is longitudinal with a focus on the need of a specific methodology to analyze the process of popular awareness of risks in such hazardous areas. This study was based on population access to information, collective knowledge construction, participation on the collective decision making and the learning of new skills. The main goal of this project was to develop an assessment method in risk’s perception to be used in environmental health risk communication for communities living in hazardous areas. Therefore, there is no environmental risk policy or program for slum buildings in Brazil. This experience provided good results and possibilities for a policy in this field. Finally, this experience has shown that it is possible to empower the inhabitants through the participation in the collective decision-making process, with news knowledges, news abilities, new behavior and also a possibility of projects to enhance the quality of life.

Leung Kam Lun. / "July 2003." / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 187-201). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.