Nkhoma, KB, Ebenso, B orcid.org/0000-0003-4147-0968, Akeju, D et al. (11 more authors) (2021) Stakeholder perspectives and requirements to guide the development of digital technology for palliative cancer services: a multi-country, cross-sectional, qualitative study in Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe. BMC Palliative Care, 20. 4. ISSN 1472-684X
Abstract
Introduction:
Coverage of palliative care in low and middle-income countries is very limited, and global projections suggest large increases in need. Novel approaches are needed to achieve the palliative care goals of Universal Health Coverage. This study aimed to identify stakeholders’ data and information needs and the role of digital technologies to improve access to and delivery of palliative care for people with advanced cancer in Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
Methods:
We conducted a multi-country cross-sectional qualitative study in sub-Saharan Africa. In-depth qualitative stakeholder interviews were conducted with N = 195 participants across Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe (advanced cancer patients n = 62, informal caregivers n = 48, health care professionals n = 59, policymakers n = 26). Verbatim transcripts were subjected to deductive and inductive framework analysis to identify stakeholders needs and their preferences for digital technology in supporting the capture, transfer and use of patient-level data to improve delivery of palliative care.
Results:
Our coding framework identified four main themes: i) acceptability of digital technology; ii) current context of technology use; iii) current vision for digital technology to support health and palliative care, and; iv) digital technologies for the generation, reporting and receipt of data. Digital heath is an acceptable approach, stakeholders support the use of secure data systems, and patients welcome improved communication with providers. There are varying preferences for how and when digital technologies should be utilised as part of palliative cancer care provision, including for increasing timely patient access to trained palliative care providers and the triaging of contact from patients.
Conclusion:
We identified design and practical challenges to optimise potential for success in developing digital health approaches to improve access to and enhance the delivery of palliative cancer care in Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Synthesis of findings identified 15 requirements to guide the development of digital health approaches that can support the attainment of global health palliative care policy goals.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s), 2021. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) |
Keywords: | palliative care; digital health; cancer; user engagement; sub-Saharan africa |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Medicine (Leeds) > Leeds Institute of Health Sciences (Leeds) > Nuffield Centre for International Health and Development (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number MRC (Medical Research Council) MR/S014535/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 10 Dec 2020 15:44 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 22:31 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | BMC |
Identification Number: | 10.1186/s12904-020-00694-y |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:168891 |