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Table 1 Classification framework with conceptual definitions

From: Implementation factors and their effect on e-Health service adoption in rural communities: a systematic literature review

Interactive elements and their definitions

Factors within each element and their definitions

Rural context

 

Geographical area with low population density, limited resource bases, relative isolation, and cultural or ethnic homogeneity [38], and the accompanying political, economic, social, and technological developments.

Socioeconomic variables - The social and monetary environment in which the community is located.

Individual resources and capabilities - Factors that influence the ability of rural residents to adopt e-Health.

A need for e-Health - Situation where e-Health can substitute for services that have disappeared or supplement existing services in a way that rural residents perceive as useful.

Third party involvement - Involvement of actors or stakeholders that do not belong to the targeted user group.

Implementation Process

 

“Streams of activity across time” [26:39] undertaken with the aim of implementing e-Health.

Implementation team - Stakeholders that initiate or promote change (a single stakeholder or a coalition of stakeholders).

Implementation strategies - Assumptions of how change needs to be executed, formulated with the aim to implement e-Health.

Bottom-up strategy - Implementation strategy based on shared project ownership based on horizontal relationships between stakeholders.

Top-down strategy - Implementation strategy based on centralized project ownership with vertical relationships between a single stakeholder and external actors.

Resource management - Strategic allocation of scarce resources.

Conflict management - Management of competing stakeholder interests as well as their ideas on the project.

People and organizational issues - Problems among individuals and organizations that occur when implementing e-Health, such as with technical support.

e-Health Content

 

Refers to any interactive communication and information technology aimed at enhancing the quality of life and/or health outcomes in the broadest sense [39].

Project design - The set of shared ideas about what the project is, including its aims, costs, and conditions for success.

e-Health design - Technical and user features of the implemented e-Health.

Sustainability - The enduring adoption of the e-Health content.

Adoption Outcomes

 

The degree of adoption by the targeted group, leading to individual and community-level outcomes.

Individual level adoption outcomes - The effects that the implemented e-Health has on the individual’s health.

 

Community-level adoption outcomes - The effects that the implemented e-Health has on the quality of life in the rural community.