Exploring medical staff ‘s attitudes, towards the using of Telehealth during the COVID 19 pandemic, with in Al Thager General Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

dc.contributor.advisorJenkins, Judy
dc.contributor.authorAlbaqami, Waleed
dc.date.accessioned2023-10-12T08:34:37Z
dc.date.available2023-10-12T08:34:37Z
dc.date.issued2023-09-26
dc.descriptionDespite 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.
dc.description.abstractBackground: 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.
dc.format.extent51
dc.identifier.citationCitation
dc.identifier.govdoc1
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14154/69376
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherSaudi Digital Library
dc.subjectmedical staff attitudes toward the utilisation of Telehealth during COVID-19.
dc.subjectTelehealth
dc.subjectMedical Staff
dc.subjectCOVIED-19
dc.titleExploring medical staff ‘s attitudes, towards the using of Telehealth during the COVID 19 pandemic, with in Al Thager General Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
dc.typeThesis
sdl.degree.departmentScience
sdl.degree.disciplineHealth Informatics
sdl.degree.grantorSwansea Unverstiy
sdl.degree.nameMaster's Degree

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