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Exploring the Attitudes of Patients towards using the Seha Application (Telehealth) in Saudi Arabia during the Coronavirus Epidemic

MOHAMMED OMARI, Judy Jenkins

ABC Journal of Advanced Research, Volume: 10, Issue: 1, Pages: 9 - 22

Swansea University Authors: MOHAMMED OMARI, Judy Jenkins

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DOI (Published version): 10.18034/abcjar.v10i1.545

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic that was declared in March 2020, caused profound changes to public life across the globe. Restrictions to reduce the spread of the virus were enforced that included staying at home and minimizing social interaction. These changes saw an environment emerge that demanded remote h...

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Published in: ABC Journal of Advanced Research
ISSN: 2304-2621 2312-203X
Published: i-Proclaim 2021
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa65143
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Restrictions to reduce the spread of the virus were enforced that included staying at home and minimizing social interaction. These changes saw an environment emerge that demanded remote healthcare, and telehealth platforms and applications quickly began to fulfill this demand. One such platform in Saudi Arabia was Seha, a Ministry of Health smartphone application that provides information, self-evaluation, and teleconsultations. To explore Seha users’ (patients) attitudes toward the Seha smartphone application during the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative, grounded theory approach using thematic analysis of data collected through open-ended semi-structured interviews with seventeen residents of Jeddah. Three themes emerged –1) COVID-19 and usage patterns, as Seha helped patients reduce person-to-person contact and usage increased, especially for emergencies; 2) ease of use and access, especially to approved doctors and reliable information; 3) time and cost savings, although it was also noted that these are more readily available to individuals and areas with access to sufficient internet infrastructure. Concerns were raised about technical issues ormisdiagnoses when using Seha for emergency cases, as the platform may prove unsuitable. Traditional barriers to telehealth adoption seemed to be absent, but these may re-emerge when the immediate crisis is over. Further issues concerned the diminishment of the doctor-patient relationship, especially the lack of information on doctors’ profiles, problems that may be experienced by older people, and lack of language variety. These lead to access problems that may be critical in a pandemic or emergency situation. Finally, the ‘digital divide’ may result in increased health inequality, and such an outcome must be avoided. The pandemic has shown telehealth applications like Seha to be a crucial tool in controlling infection rates, but the loss of face-to-face interaction with medical professionals, technical disparities, and access difficulties for certain groups may present problems for the Saudi health system unless they are taken into account and telehealth is carefully implemented into the system along with appropriate investment in infrastructure</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>ABC Journal of Advanced Research</journal><volume>10</volume><journalNumber>1</journalNumber><paginationStart>9</paginationStart><paginationEnd>22</paginationEnd><publisher>i-Proclaim</publisher><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint>2304-2621</issnPrint><issnElectronic>2312-203X</issnElectronic><keywords>Telehealth, telemedicine, telehealth apps, patient attitudes telehealth, telehealth uptake, teleconsultation, smartphone telehealth</keywords><publishedDay>8</publishedDay><publishedMonth>4</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2021</publishedYear><publishedDate>2021-04-08</publishedDate><doi>10.18034/abcjar.v10i1.545</doi><url>http://dx.doi.org/10.18034/abcjar.v10i1.545</url><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm>Not Required</apcterm><funders/><projectreference/><lastEdited>2024-01-03T16:22:16.4009471</lastEdited><Created>2023-11-28T16:34:33.1028265</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences</level><level id="2">Swansea University Medical School - Medicine</level></path><authors><author><firstname>MOHAMMED</firstname><surname>OMARI</surname><order>1</order></author><author><firstname>Judy</firstname><surname>Jenkins</surname><orcid/><order>2</order></author></authors><documents><document><filename>65143__29355__14e0b12d9a464830bc43e5969b3e441b.pdf</filename><originalFilename>65143.VOR.pdf</originalFilename><uploaded>2024-01-03T16:14:18.0245497</uploaded><type>Output</type><contentLength>841965</contentLength><contentType>application/pdf</contentType><version>Version of Record</version><cronfaStatus>true</cronfaStatus><documentNotes>Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 License (CC BY-NC 4.0).</documentNotes><copyrightCorrect>true</copyrightCorrect><language>eng</language><licence>https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/</licence></document></documents><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling v2 65143 2023-11-28 Exploring the Attitudes of Patients towards using the Seha Application (Telehealth) in Saudi Arabia during the Coronavirus Epidemic ae0019d2740377f40ca4f65bfd96d0a5 MOHAMMED OMARI MOHAMMED OMARI true false d547919f7d389a3263887233a8d20989 Judy Jenkins Judy Jenkins true false 2023-11-28 The COVID-19 pandemic that was declared in March 2020, caused profound changes to public life across the globe. Restrictions to reduce the spread of the virus were enforced that included staying at home and minimizing social interaction. These changes saw an environment emerge that demanded remote healthcare, and telehealth platforms and applications quickly began to fulfill this demand. One such platform in Saudi Arabia was Seha, a Ministry of Health smartphone application that provides information, self-evaluation, and teleconsultations. To explore Seha users’ (patients) attitudes toward the Seha smartphone application during the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative, grounded theory approach using thematic analysis of data collected through open-ended semi-structured interviews with seventeen residents of Jeddah. Three themes emerged –1) COVID-19 and usage patterns, as Seha helped patients reduce person-to-person contact and usage increased, especially for emergencies; 2) ease of use and access, especially to approved doctors and reliable information; 3) time and cost savings, although it was also noted that these are more readily available to individuals and areas with access to sufficient internet infrastructure. Concerns were raised about technical issues ormisdiagnoses when using Seha for emergency cases, as the platform may prove unsuitable. Traditional barriers to telehealth adoption seemed to be absent, but these may re-emerge when the immediate crisis is over. Further issues concerned the diminishment of the doctor-patient relationship, especially the lack of information on doctors’ profiles, problems that may be experienced by older people, and lack of language variety. These lead to access problems that may be critical in a pandemic or emergency situation. Finally, the ‘digital divide’ may result in increased health inequality, and such an outcome must be avoided. The pandemic has shown telehealth applications like Seha to be a crucial tool in controlling infection rates, but the loss of face-to-face interaction with medical professionals, technical disparities, and access difficulties for certain groups may present problems for the Saudi health system unless they are taken into account and telehealth is carefully implemented into the system along with appropriate investment in infrastructure Journal Article ABC Journal of Advanced Research 10 1 9 22 i-Proclaim 2304-2621 2312-203X Telehealth, telemedicine, telehealth apps, patient attitudes telehealth, telehealth uptake, teleconsultation, smartphone telehealth 8 4 2021 2021-04-08 10.18034/abcjar.v10i1.545 http://dx.doi.org/10.18034/abcjar.v10i1.545 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Not Required 2024-01-03T16:22:16.4009471 2023-11-28T16:34:33.1028265 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences Swansea University Medical School - Medicine MOHAMMED OMARI 1 Judy Jenkins 2 65143__29355__14e0b12d9a464830bc43e5969b3e441b.pdf 65143.VOR.pdf 2024-01-03T16:14:18.0245497 Output 841965 application/pdf Version of Record true Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 License (CC BY-NC 4.0). true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
title Exploring the Attitudes of Patients towards using the Seha Application (Telehealth) in Saudi Arabia during the Coronavirus Epidemic
spellingShingle Exploring the Attitudes of Patients towards using the Seha Application (Telehealth) in Saudi Arabia during the Coronavirus Epidemic
MOHAMMED OMARI
Judy Jenkins
title_short Exploring the Attitudes of Patients towards using the Seha Application (Telehealth) in Saudi Arabia during the Coronavirus Epidemic
title_full Exploring the Attitudes of Patients towards using the Seha Application (Telehealth) in Saudi Arabia during the Coronavirus Epidemic
title_fullStr Exploring the Attitudes of Patients towards using the Seha Application (Telehealth) in Saudi Arabia during the Coronavirus Epidemic
title_full_unstemmed Exploring the Attitudes of Patients towards using the Seha Application (Telehealth) in Saudi Arabia during the Coronavirus Epidemic
title_sort Exploring the Attitudes of Patients towards using the Seha Application (Telehealth) in Saudi Arabia during the Coronavirus Epidemic
author_id_str_mv ae0019d2740377f40ca4f65bfd96d0a5
d547919f7d389a3263887233a8d20989
author_id_fullname_str_mv ae0019d2740377f40ca4f65bfd96d0a5_***_MOHAMMED OMARI
d547919f7d389a3263887233a8d20989_***_Judy Jenkins
author MOHAMMED OMARI
Judy Jenkins
author2 MOHAMMED OMARI
Judy Jenkins
format Journal article
container_title ABC Journal of Advanced Research
container_volume 10
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publishDate 2021
institution Swansea University
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publisher i-Proclaim
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str Swansea University Medical School - Medicine{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}Swansea University Medical School - Medicine
url http://dx.doi.org/10.18034/abcjar.v10i1.545
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description The COVID-19 pandemic that was declared in March 2020, caused profound changes to public life across the globe. Restrictions to reduce the spread of the virus were enforced that included staying at home and minimizing social interaction. These changes saw an environment emerge that demanded remote healthcare, and telehealth platforms and applications quickly began to fulfill this demand. One such platform in Saudi Arabia was Seha, a Ministry of Health smartphone application that provides information, self-evaluation, and teleconsultations. To explore Seha users’ (patients) attitudes toward the Seha smartphone application during the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative, grounded theory approach using thematic analysis of data collected through open-ended semi-structured interviews with seventeen residents of Jeddah. Three themes emerged –1) COVID-19 and usage patterns, as Seha helped patients reduce person-to-person contact and usage increased, especially for emergencies; 2) ease of use and access, especially to approved doctors and reliable information; 3) time and cost savings, although it was also noted that these are more readily available to individuals and areas with access to sufficient internet infrastructure. Concerns were raised about technical issues ormisdiagnoses when using Seha for emergency cases, as the platform may prove unsuitable. Traditional barriers to telehealth adoption seemed to be absent, but these may re-emerge when the immediate crisis is over. Further issues concerned the diminishment of the doctor-patient relationship, especially the lack of information on doctors’ profiles, problems that may be experienced by older people, and lack of language variety. These lead to access problems that may be critical in a pandemic or emergency situation. Finally, the ‘digital divide’ may result in increased health inequality, and such an outcome must be avoided. The pandemic has shown telehealth applications like Seha to be a crucial tool in controlling infection rates, but the loss of face-to-face interaction with medical professionals, technical disparities, and access difficulties for certain groups may present problems for the Saudi health system unless they are taken into account and telehealth is carefully implemented into the system along with appropriate investment in infrastructure
published_date 2021-04-08T16:22:18Z
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