Evaluating Telehealth for Women in Mexico: Privacy, Usability, and Integration Challenges in Remote Healthcare

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Abstract
In the context of resource-constrained environments, the provision of telehealth services for women must navigate the delicate balance between ensuring privacy and delivering timely healthcare. This study investigates the interplay of privacy and health within telehealth services for women in Mexico. We employed a naturalistic observation approach and conducted field studies in three healthcare facilities in Cancun and the surrounding regions of Mexico-one private and two public-to assess the impact of telehealth on healthcare practices. We also manually analyzed the in-house telehealth applications, identifying a critical need for more transparent and user-friendly privacy practices to protect user data and foster trust and safety, particularly concerning sensitive healthcare data for women. The analysis revealed a lack of personalized health content and limited access to remote consultations for women, especially in the areas of prenatal, postnatal care, and chronic disease management. Additionally, our study acknowledged the potential of telehealth to decrease travel time and costs for women seeking specialized medical care. This work highlights the current state of remote healthcare for women in Mexico and aims to contribute to the creation of more efficient, privacy-conscious, and patientcentric telehealth solutions.