Nursing and eHealth: are we preparing our future nurses as automatons or informaticians?

The Education Working Group of IMIA NI present this thought provoking panel where the changing and challenging role of nursing will be explored within the information intensive eHealth arena. The session will be of interest to any nurse as the discussion will be driven by the objective of trying to understand how best to prepare nurses to be actively engaged in information and communication technology (ICT) developments that enhance care assessment, delivery, evaluation and audit. As a balance, the discussion will consider the increasing emergence of ‘nursing by numbers’ where risk assessment tools are used in an automatic way leaving little room for individual evidenced based care

New technologies towards international health cooperation. Review

[EN] According to the World Bank statistics, 83% of world’s population lives in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). These countries, often run by Governments that make an inadequate distribution of the national budgets, undergo issues in assessing the health and educational needs of their communities. Thus, from the last 80s the presence of non-governmental organizations(NGOs), which appeared as an option to fill the gaps in the system,has grown significantly. However, NGOs are usually unevenly distributed and there is rarely coordination among them, which often results in duplication of services or waste of resources.Nevertheless, the unprecedented and ubiquitous proliferation of mobile phone-based technology and internet,amongother factors, appear as a promising scenario to face the health needs of the LMICs

E-health Concept Development and Maturity in Literature

Background: Electronic technologies, which used in electronic health, electronic commerce, electronic learning, and electronic banking, have wildly invaded our life. E-health is a rapidly evolving concept in many disciplines such as nursing and medicine. Objective: To identify the maturity of e-health as a concept to attain better clarity on its meaning and application. Method: Data search included CINAHL, PubMed Central, Google Scholar, Sage Publications, Scopus, Taylor and Francis, Emerald, and Wiley's databases. The concepts of search were: electronic health, e-health, and e-health concept analysis. 36 cited definitions were found in the literature related to e-health. Morse criteria were utilized by assessing four principles to evaluate the level of maturity of e-health concept: (1) the epistemological (2) logical (3) pragmatical, and (4) linguistical principles. Conclusion: e-health concept is still not mature in all disciplines related to health. Keywords: e-health; concept maturit

Exploring factors influencing the use of an eHealth intervention for families of children with hearing loss: An application of the COM-B model

BACKGROUND: Prior to developing a successful eHealth intervention, it is important that we explore stakeholders’ capacity to adapt to eHealth. OBJECTIVE: To explore what factors influence the use eHealth services from the perspectives of families of children with hearing loss and professionals who support families as they transition into early intervention. METHODS: A qualitative study incorporating semi-structured in-depth interviews was conducted with families (n = 17) and professionals (n = 11). Interview topic guides were developed based on the COM-B model of behaviour change to explore barriers and facilitators related to capability, opportunity, and motivation. RESULTS: The COM-B model captured several factors that may influence the use eHealth interventions for families of children with hearing loss. The capability factors included computer literacy and familiarity with social media. The opportunity factors were access to online resources, reliable Internet, and affordable equipment. Professionals’ and families’ preferences and a culture of face-to-face services were also identified as barriers for using eHealth. The motivation factors included families’ and professionals’ confidence in using technology and beliefs that there were benefits (e.g., saving travel) associated with using eHealth services. In contrast, beliefs that eHealth may be difficult to set up and not able to replace in-person communication identified as barriers to families and professionals adopting eHealth interventions. CONCLUSION: Findings of this study indicated that implementation of an eHealth intervention could be facilitated by addressing the barriers in stakeholders’ capabilities, opportunities (e.g., equipment and social support), and motivation (e.g., negative beliefs about eHealth) before developing eHealth services

New technologies towards international health cooperation. Review

[EN] According to the World Bank statistics, 83% of world’s population lives in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). These countries, often run by Governments that make an inadequate distribution of the national budgets, undergo issues in assessing the health and educational needs of their communities. Thus, from the last 80s the presence of non-governmental organizations(NGOs), which appeared as an option to fill the gaps in the system,has grown significantly. However, NGOs are usually unevenly distributed and there is rarely coordination among them, which often results in duplication of services or waste of resources.Nevertheless, the unprecedented and ubiquitous proliferation of mobile phone-based technology and internet,amongother factors, appear as a promising scenario to face the health needs of the LMICs

Service-Oriented Framework for Developing Interoperable e-Health Systems in a Low-Income Country

e-Health solutions in low-income countries are fragmented, address institution-specific needs, and do little to address the strategic need for inter-institutional exchange of health data. Although various e-health interoperability frameworks exist, contextual factors often hinder their effective adoption in low-income countries. This underlines the need to investigate such factors and to use findings to adapt existing e-health interoperability models. Following a design science approach, this research involved conducting an exploratory survey among 90 medical and Information Technology personnel from 67 health facilities in Uganda. Findings were used to derive requirements for e-health interoperability, and to orchestrate elements of a service oriented framework for developing interoperable e-health systems in a low-income country (SOFIEH). A service-oriented approach yields reusable, flexible, robust, and interoperable services that support communication through well-defined interfaces. SOFIEH was evaluated using structured walkthroughs, and findings indicate that it scored well regarding applicability, usability, and understandability

Implementation of e-health interoperability in developing country contexts : the case of Zimbabwe

The provision of information technology-enabled healthcare services (e-health) has been adopted by numerous public and private facilities in both developing nations and advanced nations. However, one of the obstacles to the adoption of health information systems has been cited as their lack of interoperability resulting in their reduced effectiveness. In view of this, the study sought to explore the interoperability of health information systems employed in the country and then propose a framework to direct the process of implementing e-health interoperability. The study’s methodology was qualitative and a case study was undertaken. Semi-structured interviews were employed to gather data from e-health stakeholders in state-owned institutions and private enterprises. Document review was also conducted to substantiate findings from interviews. Data was analysed using thematic analysis and NVivo 12 software. The study’s findings revealed that several health information systems were implemented and their interoperability was low. Technological, terminology, organizational as well as regulatory and legal barriers were identified as hindrances to interoperability. The enablers for implementing e-health interoperability also revealed by this study include: development of re-usable software components, train the trainer approach to transfer of skills and regional conformance testing. The consequences of lack of interoperability among health information systems reported by this study include: burden on the worker, wastage of resources and high cost. The study also proposed a dual framework to guide the implementation of e-health interoperability. The study’s recommendations include the development of an e-health policy, an e-health strategy and the upgrade of ICT and telecommunication infrastructure to facilitate health information exchange.School of ComputingD. Phil. (Information Systems

Success factors for hospital information system implementation in public university hospitals

Hospital Information System (HIS) could help the delivery of high quality health services and improve patient care and patient safety. The development and the adoption of the system need to commence if high quality patient care is to be provided. However, successful HIS implementation is not an easy task and it depends on multiple factors such as adequate computer skills, lack of training and education. Despite the presence of a literature on nurse’s satisfaction on HIS, there is still a controversy over the success of HIS implementation. The input from the Information and Organisation culture, Trust and the nurses themselves, have not been considered. The aim of this study therefore, is to identify the success factors that influence a successful HIS implementation and to propose a research model which could fulfil the objective. Based on DeLone and Mc Lean's information, a success model system with an addition of four additional factors namely the Information culture, Organisational cultures, Trust and User quality was developed in this study. Employing a quantitative research methodology, this study began by conducting a pilot study involving 160 nurses from a university hospital to validate the reliability of the questionnaire to be used. Then, 1200 questionnaires were distributed to seven public university hospitals in Iran and 1028 (86%) usable responses were used for analysis. The covariance-based on structural equation modelling using STATA was employed to evaluate the model. Findings revealed that fourteen out of sixteen proposed hypotheses are significant on successful HIS implementation. The Information quality, Service quality, Organisation culture and the Information culture were among the most influential constructs in the final model. As the study was empirically tested in the Iranian setting, it contributes to theoretical and practical aspect of research especially in the Iranian public university hospital context

Teleorientación y teleseguimiento para la disminución del riesgo nutricional en pacientes con hipertensión arterial y diabetes mellitus atendidos en una Institución Prestadora de Servicios de Salud, Lima – Perú. 2020-2021

Implementa un sistema de teleorientación y teleseguimiento para la disminución del riesgo nutricional en pacientes con hipertensión arterial y diabetes mellitus atendidos en una Institución Prestadora de Servicios de Salud. Se trata de una investigación de tipo cuasi-experimental, alcance explicativo, enfoque cuantitativo y de carácter prospectivo y longitudinal. La selección de la muestra fue por muestreo no probabilístico y estuvo conformada por los 100 primeros pacientes con hipertensión arterial y diabetes mellitus que cumplieron los criterios de inclusión, de los cuales 61.0% (N=61) fueron adultos mayores ( =71a), 62.0% (N=62) fueron mujeres, 48.0% (N=48) presentaban secundaria completa y más del 50% habían sido diagnosticados de diabetes mellitus e hipertensión arterial hace menos de 5 años (58% y 53% respectivamente). Se evaluó el riesgo nutricional al inicio y al final las llamadas considerando su ingesta alimentaria, valores bioquímicos y antropometría; según el riesgo nutricional identificado en la primera llamada (Alto – Medio - Bajo) se programaron las llamadas de teleseguimiento (4 – 2 – 1 respectivamente). Al finalizar las sesiones programadas se obtuvo una mejora del 67% en su valoración alimentaria, 31% en su valoración bioquímica y un 9% en su valoración antropométrica; el “Riesgo nutricional bajo” en estos pacientes pasó de 17% a 75% al finalizar la intervención

Challenges affecting e-Health adoption in South African public hospitals: a case of Edendale Hospital.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) plays a crucial role in improving healthcare by providing innovative and more efficient ways of accessing, communicating, and storing information. The use of ICT in healthcare is often referred to as e-Health. With the increase in costs of healthcare services and shortage of healthcare professionals in the public sector, it has become vital that healthcare organisations consider adopting e-Health. This is because e-Health enables healthcare organisations to provide services in a more efficient and cost-effective manner, and allows healthcare providers to streamline many of their processes. The adoption of e-Health in developing countries has shown numerous benefits. These benefits include, giving patients access to quality healthcare services; provide healthcare providers with the ability to make informed decisions, access to medical knowledge databases and best practices. However, the literature shows that the adoption of e-Health in South African public hospitals has been slow and has been characterised by number of challenges such as a lack of skills, lack of ICT infrastructure, lack of management support, and lack of policies and standards to support its adoption. Using Edendale hospital as a case study, this study therefore tries to understand the factors that affect e-Health adoption in the South African public hospitals. This study adopted a quantitative research approach using questionnaire surveys as means to collect data from a total of 265 respondents that represented the study’s sample. A descriptive approach was employed in this study, and questionnaires were used to obtain data from healthcare professionals. The data collected was analysed with the use of the SPSS software. During the analysis of the data, the results obtained were based on the descriptive and inferential statistics produced. Based on this study’s results, the healthcare professionals expect an e-health system to produce an accurate patient diagnosis, improve patients’ education regarding their health, ensure stronger data privacy and security and improve the quality of safety of healthcare centres. Healthcare professionals indicated that if these expectations are met by an e-Health system, then they will adopt and use it. Also, healthcare professionals indicated that if an e-Health system is web-friendly and easy to access and use, then they will adopt and use it. The study showed that the presence of facilitating conditions (such as access to the Internet and at a low cost, adequate ICT infrastructure, relevant computer skills training, government support and involvement of the hospital management) would encourage healthcare professionals to adopt and use an e-Health system