The Influence of Culture in the Adoption and Use of Mobile Applications in the Management of Non-communicable Disease.

Mobile health (m-health) applications have been widely recognised in healthcare literature in recent years as tools for delivering effective and efficient interventions to patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes. Understanding m-health acceptance for diabetes management, in particular, is critical as it impacts on the achievement of development goals, including the United Nations’ SDG 3. Previous research argued that individuals’ culture persuasions have an influence on diabetics patients’ decisions to adopt and use mobile applications for diabetes self-management. This research assesses typical low income communities through an integrated lens of culture concepts and technology adoption. The paper presents evidence that Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, and the Unified-theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2, are relevant conceptual avenues to investigate the phenomena of mobile application adoption for diabetes self-management. The locus of the discussion is set in South Africa, more specifically, the Cape Flats in the Western Cape Province.