Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted Studying Primary Healthcare Professionals' Experiences Regarding Quality of Care in North Najran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Almuhmidhi, Rashed; Abdelraouf, Samar ElhoseinyThis study aimed to study PHC professionals’ experiences regarding the quality of care in North Najran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Method: A qualitative descriptive-phenomenological study comprised of 60 PHC professionals recruited using a disproportionate quota sampling strategy to ensure representation across specialties. Two tools to identify demographic and occupational characteristics, as well as explore PHC professionals’ experiences concerning quality of care in PHC centers. Results: It declares that 98.3% of PHC professionals are Saudi Arabian, 43.3% are nurses, and 81.7% have attended training courses about quality of care. Conclusion: This study reveals that enhancing the quality of care in North Najran’s PHC centers necessitates a holistic, well-resourced approach, as professionals there face significant barriers like staff shortages, inadequate resources, ......5 0Item Restricted What are the barriers to User Acceptance and Use of EHRs in the Gulf Regions? Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Huntul, Ahmed; JENKINS, JUDYBackground: The global shift towards Electronic Health Records (EHRs) has been fuelled by the constraints of paper-based patient records, which have long been the norm in the healthcare industry. These drawbacks include limited accessibility, missing data, and legibility concerns. One of the main areas of healthcare reform in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is the implementation of EHRs. But there are still a lot of obstacles to adoption and utilisation, particularly for frontline healthcare workers. Objective: Through a systematic review of qualitative studies, this study aims to investigate the obstacles to user acceptance and usage of EHRs in the Gulf area, offering thematic insights into adoption-affecting issues. Methods: For studies published between 2015 and June 2025, a systematic review using the SPIDER methodology was carried out across five databases (Scopus, Cinhal, Embase, Medline, and Google Scholar). Qualitative or mixed-methods research involving medical professionals in GCC countries were the focus of the inclusion criteria. The CASP checklist was used to evaluate quality. Four major themes, fourteen subthemes, and 141 codes were produced by thematically synthesising data from nine qualifying studies. Results: Technical and system-related problems, such as unstable infrastructure, poor interoperability, and usability issues; human and behavioural barriers, such as resistance to change, lack of training, and workload burden; organisational and administrative weaknesses, such as unstable leadership, poor governance, and staffing shortages; and data and security issues, such as privacy, confidentiality, and data integrity risks, were the four categories of barriers that were identified. Conclusion: EHR adoption in the Gulf is not only a technical problem, but also a cultural, organisational, and policy issue. For the region's digital health transition to be sustainable, it is essential that governance be strengthened, leadership be stable, user training be improved, and strong data governance frameworks be developed.7 0Item Restricted Usability Barriers to Telemedicine Platforms Among Healthcare Providers(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Hawbani, Malak; Jenkins, JudyThis literature review explores the critical usability barriers to telemedicine platforms as experienced by healthcare providers. While telemedicine has grown rapidly particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, its long-term success relies heavily on provider engagement and the usability of digital systems. The review summarises findings across multiple domains including interface and navigation challenges, workflow integration issues, cognitive and information overload, training and digital health literacy, resistance to technology adoption, infrastructure constraints, regulatory concerns and variability by clinical role and setting. Research indicates that healthcare providers frequently encounter fragmented workflows, unintuitive interfaces and extreme cognitive demands during virtual consultations. Many clinicians report receiving minimal training which often contributes to low digital health literacy. These issues are particularly prevalent among clinicians with low digital literacy and those working in low-resource environments. Resistance to telemedicine is frequently linked to a lack of support, poor system alignment with clinical needs and insufficient involvement in the design process. The review also emphasises how usability varies across provider roles and settings highlighting the importance of context-sensitive, role-specific design. Many health practitioners may face distinct challenges as do providers in rural or under-resourced areas. Legal uncertainty around data privacy and disadvantage further impacts usability and trust. The review highlights gaps in provider-focused qualitative research, the underrepresentation of low- and middle-income countries and the predominance of COVID-19 era studies which limit the evidence on the long-term usability of telemedicine. Future research must priorities co- designed, inclusive and provider-centred approaches to enhance telemedicine usability and ensure equitable digital care delivery27 0Item Restricted Aspect-Based Sentiment Analysis on Healthcare Services Uding pre-trained Languges Model(Malaya University, 2025) Alkathiri, Sarah; Sabri, AznulThis research explores the application of various computational models for aspect- based sentiment analysis (ABSA) of healthcare reviews, a critical component of enhancing healthcare services through feedback analysis. With the rapid expansion of online health platforms, the volume of textual reviews generated by patients provides a rich source of data for understanding patient satisfaction and areas needing improvement. The research thoroughly assesses various models, encompassing conventional statistical models, recurrent neural networks (RNNs), and sophisticated transformer-based models like BERT, RoBERTa, and DistilBERT. Each model was assessed based on its ability to accurately classify sentiments tied to specific aspects of healthcare services, such as cleanliness, staff behavior, and treatment efficacy. Two primary feature extraction techniques, Bag of Words (BoW) and Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF), were employed to transform raw text into a suitable format for model ingestion. Our findings demonstrate that while traditional models offer quick and interpretable results, they sometimes lack the nuanced understanding of context provided by more sophisticated deep learning and transformer models. RNNs, particularly LSTM and BiLSTM, were effective in capturing temporal dependencies in text data, essential for comprehending longer patient feedback.49 0Item Restricted Improving Heart Failure Management in Saudi Arabia: A Quality and Safety Improvement Project Using Telemedicine(University of Nottingham, 2024) Alansari, Dareen; Stacy, JohnsonHeart failure is a common and complex healthcare problem in Saudi Arabia. Due to the lack of emphasis on primary and secondary prevention, the ageing population, and the increased prevalence of heart failure risk factors, especially among the younger population, the number of people with HF is expected to increase, leading to an increased burden on the national healthcare system in Saudi Arabia. This proposed quality improvement project will utilise telemedicine to monitor the progression of heart failure and heart failure risk factors, facilitate early identification of disease worsening and prompt referral to specialists, as well as educate people about the importance of managing their disease, in an effort to delay the development of heart failure and to improve the quality and safety of existing heart failure care in Saudi Arabia. Well-recognised quality improvement methodology and tools, including the Model for Improvement and Davidge’s Seven Steps to Measurement, supported by statistical process control charts as well as qualitative methods, will be used to guide the improvement process. A high emphasis will be placed on stakeholders involvement through an appropriate leadership style and engagement of stakeholders in the development of the design of this project at the early stages. This proposed quality improvement project provides a sustainable solution that is well-aligned with the vision of Saudi Arabia as well as the Institute of Medicine’s six domains of healthcare quality, taking advantage of a well-established technology infrastructure to tackle a persistent healthcare threat.42 0Item Restricted Exploring Digital Self-Management Support for Chronic Knee Pain in Physiotherapy Clinics in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: A Two Phased Sequential Mixed Methods Study(Cradiff University, 2024-04) Aljahdali, Shaima; Latchem-Hastings, Julie; Button, Kate; Hamana, KatyBackground and study aim: Chronic knee pain is a widespread issue globally, affecting individuals of all ages worldwide. This challenge is intensified by an aging population, sedentary lifestyles and increasing obesity rates. There is an international shift towards promoting active management approaches in line with clinical guidelines, including physical activity, dietary changes and the support of self-management. This shift has led to an evolution of digital initiatives designed to support people to self- manage their chronic knee pain. However, despite the high prevalence of chronic knee pain in Saudi Arabia, relevant research in the region remains scarce. This study aims to explore digital self-management support for knee pain within the current physiotherapy practices in Jeddah, a prominent city in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This study employed a sequential exploratory mixed-method design. It started with qualitative interviews involving 29 participants (15 physiotherapists and 14 individuals with knee pain), analysed using reflexive thematic analysis (Phase 1). The aim was to explore how existing physiotherapy practices for knee conditions align with self-management support principles and to explore the perceptions of potential users towards digital self-management support initiatives. Part of the findings informed the adaptation of the digital intervention "TRAK" into a Saudi-specific platform named "TRAK-Saudi". In Phase 2, 12 participants (6 physiotherapists and 6 individuals with chronic knee pain) participated in remote usability testing sessions for evaluating the usability of TRAK-Saudi. The perceived usability was assessed using the Arabic System Usability Scale (A-SUS), with usability issues identified through a concurrent think-aloud approach and analysed via quantitative content analysis. Additionally, the likelihood of substituting face-to-face sessions was assessed using a 5-point Likert scale. Qualitative and quantitative data from both phases were integrated at various points to address the study's overarching aim. Findings: In Phase 1, the findings highlighted a discrepancy between current physiotherapy practices and the foundational principles of self-management support, underscoring an essential transition towards patient-centred care. Participants generally favoured digital self-management support initiatives, advocating for their role as supplementary to in-clinic therapy rather than as replacements. TRAK-Saudi was rated highly for usability, with A-SUS scores of 77.5 by individuals with chronic knee pain and 83.3 by physiotherapists. During the navigation of TRAK-Saudi, participants initiated 53 inquiries, primarily seeking guidance and assurance. Participants also expressed strong willingness to substitute in-clinic sessions with TRAK-Saudi, reflected in median ratings of 4.5 for individuals with chronic knee pain and 5 for physiotherapists, with a mode of 5 for both type of participants. Conclusion: Both physiotherapists and individuals with chronic knee pain demonstrated competence and openness to digital solutions. While TRAK-Saudi was user-friendly for Saudi users, current physiotherapy practices lack the clinical foundation to fully embrace digital self-management support initiatives. Significant changes in current practices are necessary to promote patient-centred care. At this stage, it is advisable for Jeddah’s physiotherapy clinics, if interested, to integrate TRAK-Saudi or similar initiatives as supplement to existing practices. This strategy aims to elevate the quality of knee care by enriching individuals’ knowledge, strengthening patient-provider relationship and improving self-management skills.6 0Item Restricted Improvements of Technical Blockchain to Combat Ransomware Attacks in Healthcare(Newcastle University, 2024) Albalawi, Sarah; Mace, JohnIn the face of increasing cybersecurity threats, ransomware attacks have become a significant risk to critical sectors such as healthcare. As medical healthcare systems increasingly rely on electronic health records, they face heightened vulnerabilities that can compromise patient data and disrupt essential medical services. Ransomware attacks can encrypt and render critical medical records inaccessible, jeopardising patient care. This research aims to develop and evaluate a blockchain-based solution designed to secure medical healthcare records against ransomware, enhancing data integrity, availability, and security in healthcare systems. By leveraging blockchain technology, specifically by using smart contracts and decentralised applications on the Ethereum platform, the proposed solution creates a decentralised, immutable medical record management system. The system's robustness is demonstrated through a Python-based ransomware simulation, which compares locally stored medical data with data managed via blockchain. The findings show that the blockchain-based approach and smart contracts maintain data integrity and availability during ransomware attacks, preventing unauthorised access and ensuring continuous healthcare operations. These results suggest that adopting blockchain technology in healthcare can significantly mitigate the risks posed by ransomware, reduce operational disruptions, and protect patient data from evolving cyber threats, ultimately providing a scalable and secure solution for enhancing cybersecurity in the healthcare sector.30 0Item Restricted Exploring Professional Identity and Academic Motivation in Paramedicine(Monash University, 2024-08) Alotaibi, Monther; Bowles, Kelly; Williams, BrettBackground: The evolution of the paramedic profession necessitates an understanding of the factors influencing professional identity and academic motivation among paramedic students. This study aims to explore the relationship between these two constructs within a cohort of undergraduate paramedicine students. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was utilized. Data were collected via an online survey using the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) and the Macleod Clark Professional Identity Scale (MCPIS-9). Descriptive statistics and Spearman’s rank correlation were used to analyze the data. Results: Total of 47 participants completed the survey. Significant positive correlations were found between professional identity and extrinsic motivation-identified regulation (Spearman’s rho = 0.495, p < 0.001). Conversely, a significant negative correlation was observed between professional identity and amotivation (Spearman’s rho = -0.524, p < 0.001). Multiple linear regression analyses identified that neither gender, level of study, past experience, nor having relatives in healthcare significantly predicted professional identity scores. Conclusions: This study underscores the importance of fostering a strong professional identity in paramedic students to enhance their academic motivation. Educational strategies that support professional identity development could lead to more motivated and better-prepared healthcare professionals. Further research is needed to explore the mechanisms underlying these relationships and to develop targeted interventions that can be implemented across educational settings.25 0Item Restricted THE INFLUENCE OF LEADERSHIP STYLE ON INNOVATION: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF JOB SATISFACTION IN SAUDI HOSPITALS IN RIYADH(LINCOLN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, 2024-08) Almughim, Tareq Mohamed; Abdulsamad, AkramThe study goal of this study is to examine the influence of direct empirical relationship between leadership styles, job satisfaction and innovation. In addition, this study examined the mediating role of job satisfaction as a mediator in the relationship between leadership styles dimensions (transformational leadership, transactional leadership, organizational commitment, laissez faire leadership) and innovation in Saudi healthcare. The PLS path coefficient showed four (4) formulated direct and indirect hypotheses had a significant effect on job satisfaction and innovation among employees of healthcare in the Saudi Arabia. The study establishes that job satisfaction partially mediates the relationship between leadership styles and innovation, with high leadership styles having a strong positive influence on innovation and job satisfaction in Saudi hospitals. Thus, leadership styles, such as transformational leadership, transactional leadership, organizational commitment, laissez faire leadership all contribute to job satisfaction and services and PIN in Saudi hospitals. Furthermore, the findings contribute to the ongoing discourse about the importance of job satisfaction by examining the distinctive mediating effect of leadership styles on innovation among employees of healthcare in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, the results of this study indicate that hospitals leaders, policymakers, and government organization officials must understand the reasons why employees of healthcare in Saudi Arabia have job dissatisfaction. Finally, the study gives insights into the state of leadership styles in Saudi hospitals and its impact on job satisfaction and innovation among Saudi healthcare and provides points of reference for academics, practitioners, and policymakers.28 0Item Restricted MSc Dissertation Report(Sheffield Hallam University, 2024-09-05) Alghamdi, Ali; Shobayo, OlamilekanThe present study assesses how Big Data technology has affected healthcare with regard to telemedicine and demographic disparities among Medicare beneficiaries. This research has discovered large demographic variations in the use of telehealth across many demographic variables, alluding to the fact that it is oriented toward women, urban residents, and non-Hispanic whites more than their counterparts. It is demographic insight that allows one to understand the need for targeted interventions to close the gap in telehealth access and use. Among the important recommendations based on the findings are those that aim at improving the enhancement of digital literacy and access among older adults. This is attained through the development of user-friendly telehealth platforms, community-based training in telehealth, and support systems made up of family members and caregivers. It is also critical to invest more in broadband infrastructure, alter policies for reimbursement parity, and implement mobile health units across rural areas in order to reduce the urban-rural disparities with regard to telehealth usage. This involves the promotion of gender-inclusive strategies, mainly through the reduction of racial and ethnic disparities related to telehealth adoption. The techniques in achieving this include targeted outreach programs, training of healthcare providers to promote the use of telehealth in men with prostate cancer, and culturally competent programs that have the capacity to take care of various racial and ethnic groups. Further monitoring and richer data analysis may continue to shed light on the barriers to telehealth use across demographic groups, further ensuring there is equal access to care.12 0