Department of Public Health, School of Public Health and Allied Sciences, Catholic University of Ghana, Sunyani, Ghana.
Discipline of Public Health Medicine, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
PLoS One. 2024 Apr 16;19(4):e0294802. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0294802. eCollection 2024.
INTRODUCTION: Considering the usefulness of mobile health (mHealth) technologies in healthcare delivery in low- and middle-income countries, including Ghana; there is a need to explore healthcare professionals' perspectives on the availability and use of mHealth for disease screening and treatment of patients' conditions. The study's main aim is to explore healthcare professionals' perspectives regarding the availability and use of mHealth applications for disease screening and management at point-of-care in Ghana's Ashanti Region. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted in-depth interviews with healthcare professionals who use mHealth applications daily between July and September 2020. A purposive sampling strategy was employed to select healthcare professionals who have been using mobile health application tools to support healthcare delivery. The researchers conducted 14 in-depth interviews with healthcare professionals on the availability and use of mHealth applications to support disease diagnosis and treatment of patients' conditions. Data were transcribed, coded, arranged, and analyzed to determine categories and themes. RESULTS: The study results demonstrated that healthcare workers had positive perceptions towards mHealth applications. Healthcare professionals identified significant challenges concerning mHealth applications: the high cost of data; lack of education or limited awareness; poor mobile networks; unstable internet connectivity; erratic power supply; and unavailability of logistics. Healthcare professionals identified the following prerequisite strategies to strengthen the use and scale-up of mHealth applications: stable internet connectivity; creating awareness; supplying logistics; reducing the cost of data; and developing local mobile apps. CONCLUSIONS: The study results revealed the availability of mHealth applications at the individual level for disease screening and treatment support of patients' conditions. The study also showed several significant challenges facing mHealth applications which need to be addressed to guarantee the successful implementation and scaling-up of mHealth activities at all levels of healthcare delivery. Hence, future research should incorporate healthcare professionals' perspectives to completely understand mHealth implementation and scaling-up challenges and measures to inform policy regulations.
简介:考虑到移动医疗(mHealth)技术在包括加纳在内的中低收入国家医疗保健服务中的有用性,有必要探讨医疗保健专业人员对 mHealth 在疾病筛查和治疗患者病情方面的可用性和使用情况的看法。本研究的主要目的是探讨加纳阿散蒂地区医疗保健专业人员对 mHealth 应用程序在即时护理点进行疾病筛查和管理的可用性和使用情况的看法。
材料与方法:我们于 2020 年 7 月至 9 月期间对日常使用 mHealth 应用程序的医疗保健专业人员进行了深入访谈。采用目的抽样策略选择使用移动医疗应用工具支持医疗保健服务的医疗保健专业人员。研究人员对 14 名医疗保健专业人员进行了深入访谈,了解 mHealth 应用程序在支持疾病诊断和治疗患者病情方面的可用性和使用情况。对数据进行转录、编码、整理和分析,以确定类别和主题。
结果:研究结果表明,医疗保健工作者对 mHealth 应用程序持积极看法。医疗保健专业人员确定了 mHealth 应用程序面临的一些重大挑战:数据成本高;缺乏教育或认知有限;移动网络不佳;互联网连接不稳定;供电不稳定;以及物流不可用。医疗保健专业人员确定了以下加强 mHealth 应用程序的使用和扩大规模的先决策略:稳定的互联网连接;提高认识;提供物流;降低数据成本;开发本地移动应用程序。
结论:研究结果表明,mHealth 应用程序在个人层面上可用于疾病筛查和治疗支持患者的病情。研究还表明,mHealth 应用程序面临着一些重大挑战,需要加以解决,以保证 mHealth 活动在各级医疗保健服务中的成功实施和扩大规模。因此,未来的研究应纳入医疗保健专业人员的观点,以全面了解 mHealth 实施和扩大规模的挑战以及措施,为政策法规提供信息。
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