TY - JOUR
T1 - Commonalities and differences in injured patient experiences of accessing and receiving quality injury care
T2 - a qualitative study in three sub-Saharan African countries
AU - Kennedy, Ciaran
AU - Ignatowicz, Agnieszka
AU - Odland, Maria Lisa
AU - Abdul-Latif, Abdul-Malik
AU - Belli, Antonio
AU - Howard, Anthony
AU - Whitaker, John
AU - Chu, Kathryn M
AU - Ferreira, Karen
AU - Owolabi, Eyitayo O
AU - Nyamathe, Samukelisiwe
AU - Tabiri, Stephen
AU - Ofori, Bernard
AU - Pognaa Kunfah, Sheba Mary
AU - Yakubu, Mustapha
AU - Bekele, Abebe
AU - Alyande, Barnabas
AU - Nzasabimana, Pascal
AU - Byiringiro, Jean-Claude
AU - Davies, Justine
PY - 2024/7/1
Y1 - 2024/7/1
N2 - Objectives: To understand commonalities and differences in injured patient experiences of accessing and receiving quality injury care across three lower-income and middle-income countries. Design: A qualitative interview study. The interviews were audiorecorded, transcribed and thematically analysed. Setting: Urban and rural settings in Ghana, South Africa and Rwanda. Participants: 59 patients with musculoskeletal injuries. Results: We found five common barriers and six common facilitators to injured patient experiences of accessing and receiving high-quality injury care. The barriers encompassed issues such as service and treatment availability, transportation challenges, apathetic care, individual financial scarcity and inadequate health insurance coverage, alongside low health literacy and information provision. Facilitators included effective information giving and informed consent practices, access to health insurance, improved health literacy, empathetic and responsive care, comprehensive multidisciplinary management and discharge planning, as well as both informal and formal transportation options including ambulance services. These barriers and facilitators were prevalent and shared across at least two countries but demonstrated intercountry and intracountry (between urbanity and rurality) variation in thematic frequency. Conclusion: There are universal factors influencing patient experiences of accessing and receiving care, independent of the context or healthcare system. It is important to recognise and understand these barriers and facilitators to inform policy decisions and develop transferable interventions aimed at enhancing the quality of injury care in sub-Saharan African nations.
AB - Objectives: To understand commonalities and differences in injured patient experiences of accessing and receiving quality injury care across three lower-income and middle-income countries. Design: A qualitative interview study. The interviews were audiorecorded, transcribed and thematically analysed. Setting: Urban and rural settings in Ghana, South Africa and Rwanda. Participants: 59 patients with musculoskeletal injuries. Results: We found five common barriers and six common facilitators to injured patient experiences of accessing and receiving high-quality injury care. The barriers encompassed issues such as service and treatment availability, transportation challenges, apathetic care, individual financial scarcity and inadequate health insurance coverage, alongside low health literacy and information provision. Facilitators included effective information giving and informed consent practices, access to health insurance, improved health literacy, empathetic and responsive care, comprehensive multidisciplinary management and discharge planning, as well as both informal and formal transportation options including ambulance services. These barriers and facilitators were prevalent and shared across at least two countries but demonstrated intercountry and intracountry (between urbanity and rurality) variation in thematic frequency. Conclusion: There are universal factors influencing patient experiences of accessing and receiving care, independent of the context or healthcare system. It is important to recognise and understand these barriers and facilitators to inform policy decisions and develop transferable interventions aimed at enhancing the quality of injury care in sub-Saharan African nations.
KW - QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
KW - Quality in health care
KW - Patient-Centered Care
U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-082098
DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-082098
M3 - Article
C2 - 38955369
SN - 2044-6055
VL - 14
JO - BMJ open
JF - BMJ open
IS - 7
M1 - e082098
ER -