Exploring medical staff ‘s attitudes, towards the using of Telehealth during the COVID 19 pandemic, with in Al Thager General Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Date
2023-09-26
Authors
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Publisher
Saudi Digital Library
Abstract
Background: Despite the extensive research on the utilisation of Telehealth
during COVID-19, no review has attempted to summarise the findings for a
better understanding of how the global event has affected healthcare
professionals’ attitudes toward Telehealth. This study presents a systematic
review of medical staff attitudes toward the utilisation of Telehealth during
COVID-19.
Methods: Utilising the PRISMA guideline, a comprehensive literature search
was performed in three electronic databases: PubMed, Google Scholar and
ScienceDirect. All the retrieved articles were screened according to specific
inclusion criteria to select relevant articles published between 2014 and 2022.
Results: Fifteen relevant articles were included in the systematic review.
Thematic analyses of the retrieved data led to the synthesis of four themes: (1)
Positive attitudes, (2) facilitators and enablers, (3) negative attitudes, and (4)
barriers. Participants generally reflected positive attitudes toward telehealth
utilisation during the pandemic, as evidenced by their positive feedback on
actual usage and suggestions for improved telehealth modalities. Specific
factors such as ease of use, effort expectancy, performance expectancy, and
facilitating conditions were identified as facilitators of positive attitudes.
However, negative attitudes such as underutilisation, a higher risk of
misdiagnosis, and data privacy and security issues were reported.
Conclusion: These findings assist relevant bodies and policymakers in
developing strategies to improve the utilisation of Telehealth in the COVID-19
period, as well as balancing the frequency of in-person and Telehealth sessions
without compromising the quality of healthcare services.
Description
Despite the significance and extensive reliance on using Telehealth for communication and delivery of healthcare services, it is still being determined whether medical staff perceived the technology to be important during COVID-19. This study explored the attitudes towards using Telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic among the medical staff in Al Thager General Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional design was employed, explicitly using a qualitative approach—a structured questionnaire collected relevant information from 10 medical staff recruited from the hospital. The questions were designed to cover respondents’ opinions on the problems faced and the efficiency of using Telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, the advantages of implementing Telehealth, the expected effects of Telehealth on performance, and approaches to implement training courses on Telehealth. Results revealed that 5 broad themes were synthesised from the thematic analyses, namely, (1) Attitudes toward Telehealth during COVID-19, (2) Challenges, (3) Efficiency of implementing Telehealth, (4) Effects of increasing Telehealth usage, and (5) Telehealth-promotion training. Overall, medical staff demonstrated positive attitudes toward the utilisation of Telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, as reflected in their positive feedback, actual usage, perceived efficiency, and suggestions to enhance the modalities. Meanwhile, patient privacy, lack of training, technical issues, poor communication between technological experts and medical staff, and high cost of implementation and maintenance were the challenges faced in implementing Telehealth. Training to promote Telehealth was seen as a crucial solution to the challenges mentioned. These findings may assist policymakers in Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health and hospitals in Jeddah in making informed decisions and developing strategies to improve the utilisation of Telehealth in the post-COVID-19 era.
Keywords
medical staff attitudes toward the utilisation of Telehealth during COVID-19., Telehealth, Medical Staff, COVIED-19
Citation
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