TELEHEALTH IN AFRICA

TELEHEALTH IN AFRICA

INTRODUCTION

Telehealth is a means that has been developed to provide health care services via electronic devices such as the telephones, computer, and its accessories.  Telehealth has rapidly grown and is taking ground in medicine as it is being used to deliver health care services to many people anywhere and at any time (Dorsey & Topol, 2016). Although many studies and reviews have been done on the current trends and limitations of telehealth, few have tried to explain how telehealth can effectively deliver health care services, especially in Africa. This study will majorly dwell on how telehealth can be used to improve health care.t Telehealth is a form of service delivery that can improve the quality and the time taken to provide essential primary care services to patients and their caretakers. Telehealth can also be used as a means to improve the experiences that patients and their caretakers have on health care; it can also improve the health of populations, reduce the government expenditure per individual (per capita) on health care as well as making the experience of health care providers more exciting (Tuckson, Edmunds & Hodgkins, 2017). Provision of health care via such devices, especially in this era of improved technology, maybe a highly welcomed step because it uses devices that are already owned by many people. Taking an example of a simple phone, health care can be provided via a call or a simple text as a reminder for appointments, time for drugs, diet, or exercise. This will ensure that the patients take drugs or any other prescription provided on time without missing and thus ensure adherence. For smartphones, many applications have been developed or can be developed that can track patients’ progress and provide a report both to the doctor and the patient for easy evaluation. With these few examples discussed, I find it important to expand on the uses of telehealth and to encourage its adoption.

As health care is a very dynamic field and many diseases and treatments are being discovered, storage, relaying and the way to present medical information is safe with telehealth because safeguarding and retrieval of information are more guaranteed than the old way paper and file which is more prone to damage and loss, therefore, making it more reliable and convenient.

Statistics have it that more than 60% of health care facilities and 40-50% of hospitals in the United States have adopted the use of telehealth (Tuckson, Edmunds & Hodgkins, 2017). Initially, the main aim of telehealth was to provide health care to individuals who otherwise the services would not be available to them due to demographics, nature of work or the ability of the patient to get the service, such as those in rural areas, military or prisons (Dorsey & Topol, 2016). Telehealth will be very useful, especially for patients with chronic diseases because it may help to reduce the costs of making visits to the doctor and the long, tedious process followed to obtain samples and results. Since chronic diseases are incurable, but the management of symptoms is needed to reduce pain and improve the quality of health, telehealth is the future to ensure proper management.Taking an example of a diabetic patient who needs to have regular visits and checks with the doctor for management of the condition, the patient can use a phone to upload medications, food logs, sugar levels, and drug dosing to be reviewed by a doctor who can immediately respond based on the data received. This can be done via a phone application or an E-mail. Demonstrations like carbohydrate counting can also be given via videos that the patient can refer to and rewind as much as possible to ensure he doesn’t forget, unlike when the doctor gives verbal instructions that can be forgotten time as it relies on the patient’s memory.  The patient can also use an application to estimate the insulin he/she needs to be based on diet and exercise. The patient can also use an online patient portal to schedule an appointment, request prescription refills, or check his/her test results.

Telehealth can be adopted by health care facilities with the objectives of making heal care available to all at any time, reduce movement from one place to another which in turn may be beneficial to the environment as less movement means less use of cars and therefore less air pollution through emission of gases.it also improves access to health specialists, improve coordination of care and communication between health care providers and the patient and provide support for health care self-management. There is a need to develop telehealth, especially in Africa, because most countries are still developing and face challenges in fighting endless battles in hunger, natural disasters such as drought, epidemics, new bacteria, and viruses that are gaining resistance over the existing antibiotic drugs, and poverty. These lead to new viruses spreading over the countries and facing many challenges in containing them (Moahi,1999, p.44). Considering the facts stated above and the importance of telehealth in the field of health care, it is therefore important to introduce and to strengthen the roots of telehealth in Africa, especially in developing countries so that the medical personnel may be able to learn from the doctors in the developed world and improve their ability to manage diseases. This has proven to be of importance, especially with the widespread of the Covid 19 pandemic that is currently being experienced across the globe. Doctors may not be able to travel to the developing countries because of the travel restrictions or the doctors are trying hard to battle with the disease in their own country. Research information can also be shared among doctors and scientists looking to develop the vaccine to the virus.

The research methodology used for this study is an integrative literature review where books, research articles, and other published texts are used to obtain information. A literature review has proven to be the most effective way of conducting research and answering research questions in studies where practical data collection may not be possible. Research is built and majorly related to existing knowledge to ensure accuracy in all disciplines. Discoveries of new ideas in health and medicine are very dynamic and similarly remain interdisciplinary and fragmented. This has, however, proven literature review as the most effective research method. A literature review can be defined as a way of systematic collection and synthesis of previous researches (Tranfield, Denyer, & Smart, 2003). A well-conducted and effective review as a method of research creates a strong platform for theory development and knowledge advancement (Webster & Watson, 2002). The literature review has more power than a single study because it compares findings in various studies and is more detailed. It also has the power to unveil areas where more research is needed. This study focuses on a systematic review of various studies, including articles in different journals.

This topic is important to the field of health information management (him) because it aims at transforming the healthcare services in Africa and her developing countries. Wikipedia defines health information management as a way of analyzing, acquiring, protecting traditional and digital medical information that is vital in providing quality care to patients. This will also help in opening up Africa to new and advanced medical technologies. According to (Kale 1994), books in the African medical libraries are reported to be between 15 to 30 years old and that some of the libraries have not subscribed to journals.

Telehealth as a means of providing health care services is the most effective and convenient platform, especially in places where there are limited resources such as in developing countries in Africa. The western world has embraced this technique and is still advancing on how to make it more reliable. Telehealth does not need to be expensive and demanding because it uses existing electronic devices such as telephones and computers. African countries may have lacked the motivation to apply this kind of service delivery, and this is why this study focuses on the advantages of using telehealth to encourage Africa into adopting it—considering that in many countries in Africa are struggling with shortages of medical personnel more so the medical specialists which make the referral process frustrating to both health care workers and patients due to delays in getting laboratory test/ result and cost of traveling and thus delays the time for consulting specialists. Diagnosis of new diseases could also be shared with developed countries that have already handled it and can exchange timely ideas on its treatment, unlike referring patients to those for treatment. A study by Kibera, Scott, and Mars to establish the eHealth readiness of various stakeholders to facilitate the sustainable and successful implementation of telemedicine in Uganda found out that 70% of health professionals across the three levels of health care facilities that were studied were aware of telemedicine, but only 41% used it. Over 40% of health workers at health care level IV and referral hospitals were not aware of telemedicine. Those who were aware but did not use it as well as those who were aware and use it expressed core, clinical, and interest in learning. The World Health Organization has expressed concern over a shortage of 12.9 million health care workers by 2035. The figure stands at 7.9 million with an extreme shortage in 57 countries, of which 63% are countries in Sub Saharan Africa (Kiberu, Scott & Mars, 2019). According to the European Union (EU) estimates, the European telemedicine market increased from €4.7 billion in 2007to €11.2 billion in 2012. Less effort has been spent in Africa, probably because of limited budget given, inadequate infrastructure, and lack of awareness and smaller return of investment (Combi, Pozzani & Pozzi, 2016). Therefore, examining the implementation of telehealth in Africa is important because it enables the provision of health care services universally and conveniently.

All the above sources have discussed the need to implement telehealth in Africa. It is, therefore, necessary for us to discuss how telehealth is going to help Africa in delivering quality health care and encourage them to adopt. It will help deal with a pandemic. It has been experienced with the current COVID 19 pandemic.

References

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