Gray Ethan, Blandford Ann, Amon Samuel, Antwi Publa, Asah-Ayeh Vida, Awuah Raphael Baffour, Baatiema Leonard, Kushitor Sandra Boatemaa, Haghparast-Bidgoli Hassan, Jennings Hannah Maria, Kretchy Irene Akwo, Strachan Daniel, Vaughan Megan, Fottrell Edward
Institute of Global Health, University College London, London, UK.
Department of Computer Science, University College London, UCLIC, London, UK.
Digit Health. 2025 Jul 28;11:20552076251349705. doi: 10.1177/20552076251349705. eCollection 2025 Jan-Dec.
The prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Ghana and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is increasing at a rate notably higher than the rest of the world. Consequently, there is an urgent need to develop low-cost community interventions for diseases including T2D in Ghana, with digital tools potentially empowering community members in prevention and management. This research aimed to identify effective strategies for leveraging digital tools to address T2D in Ga Mashie, Ghana, through community-driven empowerment and action.
This was a mixed methods study involving focus groups (N = 13), qualitative interviews with community representatives (N = 69) and two community workshops (N = 35 participants in each).
The focus groups and interviews identified strong facilitators for an individual-level digital intervention focused on education; however, workshops highlighted that the community wants greater access to in-person education and healthcare services in Ga Mashie, limiting the likely impact of an individual digital intervention.
Our findings challenge the widespread assumption that digital interventions should be targeted at the individual; rather, digital tools might be used to empower community leaders in Ga Mashie with training and clinical guidance to function as healthcare agents, scaling-up the delivery of education and screening services to their broader community. This suggests a novel system-level strategy for designing community-based, empowerment-focused digital health interventions that reflect the practices and values of community members, though further work is needed to validate this approach.
在加纳以及撒哈拉以南非洲（SSA）的其他国家，2型糖尿病（T2D）和其他非传染性疾病（NCDs）的患病率正以显著高于世界其他地区的速度增长。因此，迫切需要为加纳包括T2D在内的疾病开发低成本的社区干预措施，数字工具可能会在预防和管理方面增强社区成员的能力。本研究旨在通过社区驱动的赋权和行动，确定利用数字工具应对加纳加马西地区T2D的有效策略。
这是一项混合方法研究，包括焦点小组（N = 13）、对社区代表的定性访谈（N = 69）以及两个社区工作坊（每个工作坊有N = 35名参与者）。
焦点小组和访谈确定了针对侧重于教育的个人层面数字干预的有力促进因素；然而，工作坊强调社区希望在加马西地区能有更多机会获得面对面的教育和医疗服务，这限制了个人数字干预可能产生的影响。
我们的研究结果挑战了普遍认为数字干预应针对个人的假设；相反，数字工具可用于培训和临床指导，使加马西地区的社区领袖成为医疗服务人员，从而扩大向更广泛社区提供教育和筛查服务的规模。这提出了一种新颖的系统层面策略，用于设计基于社区、以赋权为重点的数字健康干预措施，以反映社区成员的实践和价值观，不过还需要进一步开展工作来验证这种方法。
