The collaborative design of a health informatics fundamentals curriculum for the South African context

Abstract

Information and communication technology (ICT) has the potential to strengthen healthcare service provision, communication, information processing, and management. In developing contexts, great improvements were made towards utilising ICT in healthcare. However, the same factors influencing the provision of healthcare services also make the utilisation of ICT more problematic. In addition to the limited resources in designing, developing and maintaining appropriate healthcare innovations, there seems to be limited understanding of the ‘situated design considerations’ for ICT interventions. There is a need, ultimately, for professionals and practitioners who understand the nuanced aspects of healthcare services and informatics. In this regard, there is a further need to develop courses for scholars and innovators looking to incorporate ICT in the healthcare domain.