| dc.description.abstract | Maternal and child healthcare in Sri Lanka continues to face challenges such as missed
clinic appointments, delayed immunizations, inadequate follow-up, and reliance on
paper-based health records. Mobile health (mHealth) applications have shown potential
to address these issues, and recent literature suggests that artificial intelligence (AI)
features such as automated reminders, predictive alerts, and digital health records can
further strengthen healthcare monitoring. This study is exploratory and survey-based
and does not involve the implementation or experimental evaluation of an AI system.
A review of existing local and international literature is first used to identify how
mHealth and AI-enabled features have been applied to maternal and child healthcare in
low- and middle-income countries, highlighting reported benefits as well as challenges
related to privacy, digital literacy, and infrastructure. The current study then presents
findings from a survey conducted among parents, healthcare professionals, and the
general public in Sri Lanka. The survey explores current healthcare practices, mobile
phone usage, and user perceptions toward AI-supported mHealth solutions. The
results indicate high smartphone usage and a positive attitude toward digital reminders,
centralized digital health records, and intelligent follow-up tools. Finally, this study
provides ideas for creating an efficient maternal and child health monitoring system
appropriate for Sri Lanka’s healthcare environment and emphasizes the necessity for
context-specific, user-friendly AI-driven mobile tools. | en_US |
