IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ijphth/v63y2018i5d10.1007_s00038-018-1092-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

eHealth as a facilitator of equitable access to primary healthcare: the case of caring for non-communicable diseases in rural and refugee settings in Lebanon

Author

Listed:
  • Shadi Saleh

    (American University of Beirut
    American University of Beirut)

  • Mohamad Alameddine

    (American University of Beirut
    Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dubai Health Care City)

  • Angie Farah

    (American University of Beirut)

  • Nour El Arnaout

    (American University of Beirut)

  • Hani Dimassi

    (Lebanese American University)

  • Carles Muntaner

    (School of Medicine University of Toronto)

  • Christo El Morr

    (York University)

Abstract

Objectives Assess the effect of selected low-cost eHealth tools on diabetes/hypertension detection and referrals rates in rural settings and refugee camps in Lebanon and explore the barriers to showing-up to scheduled appointments at Primary Healthcare Centers (PHC). Methods Community-based screening for diabetes and hypertension was conducted in five rural and three refugee camp PHCs using an eHealth netbook application. Remote referrals were generated based on pre-set criteria. A phone survey was subsequently conducted to assess the rate and causes of no-shows to scheduled appointments. Associations between the independent variables and the outcome of referrals were then tested. Results Among 3481 screened individuals, diabetes, hypertension, and comorbidity were detected in 184,356 and 113 per 1000 individuals, respectively. 37.1% of referred individuals reported not showing-up to scheduled appointments, owing to feeling better/symptoms resolved (36.9%) and having another obligation (26.1%). The knowledge of referral reasons and the employment status were significantly associated with appointment show-ups. Conclusions Low-cost eHealth netbook application was deemed effective in identifying new cases of NCDs and establishing appropriate referrals in underserved communities.

Suggested Citation

  • Shadi Saleh & Mohamad Alameddine & Angie Farah & Nour El Arnaout & Hani Dimassi & Carles Muntaner & Christo El Morr, 2018. "eHealth as a facilitator of equitable access to primary healthcare: the case of caring for non-communicable diseases in rural and refugee settings in Lebanon," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 63(5), pages 577-588, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ijphth:v:63:y:2018:i:5:d:10.1007_s00038-018-1092-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s00038-018-1092-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00038-018-1092-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00038-018-1092-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gatherer, A. & Moller, L. & Hayton, P., 2005. "The World Health Organization European health in prisons project after 10 years: Persistent barriers and achievements," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 95(10), pages 1696-1700.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kathryn Nicholson & Tatjana T. Makovski & Saverio Stranges, 2019. "The integration of primary care and public health to improve population health: tackling the complex issue of multimorbidity," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 64(7), pages 983-984, September.
    2. Potluka, Oto & Švecová, Lenka & Kubát, Viktor & Liskova-Nedbalova, Veronika & Nečas, Tomáš & Lhotská, Lenka & Hejdová, Kristýna, 2023. "Evaluation of eHealth assistance in-hospital care for improved quality of life in patients," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ines Testoni & Irene Nencioni & Maibrit Arbien & Erika Iacona & Francesca Marrella & Vittoria Gorzegno & Cristina Selmi & Francesca Vianello & Alfonso Nava & Adriano Zamperini & Michael Alexander Wies, 2021. "Mental Health in Prison: Integrating the Perspectives of Prison Staff," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-14, October.
    2. Roland Bardy & Stephen Drew & Tumenta Kennedy, 2012. "Foreign Investment and Ethics: How to Contribute to Social Responsibility by Doing Business in Less-Developed Countries," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 106(3), pages 267-282, March.
    3. Rosemarie Wieske & Marianne Nijnuis & Bettie Carmiggelt & Margreet Wagenaar-Fischer & Magda Boere-Boonekamp, 2012. "Preventive youth health care in 11 European countries: an exploratory analysis," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 57(3), pages 637-641, June.
    4. Katerina Maximova & Nancy Hanusaik & Natalie Kishchuk & Gilles Paradis & Jennifer L. O’Loughlin, 2016. "Public health strategies promoting physical activity and healthy eating in Canada: are we changing paradigms?," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 61(5), pages 565-572, June.
    5. Maimoona Aboobakur & Ali Latheef & Ahmed Mohamed & Sheena Moosa & Ravindra Pandey & Anand Krishnan & Dorairaj Prabhakaran, 2010. "Surveillance for non-communicable disease risk factors in Maldives: results from the first STEPS survey in Male," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 55(5), pages 489-496, October.
    6. Fei Yu, 2011. "Indoor Air Pollution and Children’s Health: Net Benefits from Stove and Behavioral Interventions in Rural China," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 50(4), pages 495-514, December.
    7. Bilal Avan & Syed Raza & Betty Kirkwood, 2014. "A community-based study of early childhood sensory stimulation in home environment associated with growth and psychomotor development in Pakistan," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 59(5), pages 779-788, October.
    8. Hamidreza Roohafza & Masoumeh Sadeghi & Maryam Shahnam & Ahmad Bahonar & Nizal Sarafzadegan, 2011. "Perceived factors related to cigarette and waterpipe (ghelyan) initiation and maintenance in university students of Iran," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 56(2), pages 175-180, April.
    9. Anne Taylor & Stefano Campostrini & Tiffany Gill & Patricia Carter & Eleonora Dal Grande & Michele Herriot, 2010. "The use of chronic disease risk factor surveillance systems for evidence-based decision-making: physical activity and nutrition as examples," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 55(4), pages 243-249, August.
    10. Duong Thi Thuy Doan & Huong Thi Thu Nguyen & Ha Thi Thu Bui, 2017. "Patterns of the utilization of prenatal diagnosis services among pregnant women, their satisfaction and its associated factors in Viet Nam," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 62(1), pages 35-40, February.
    11. Magda Javakhishvili & Alexander T. Vazsonyi & Helen Phagava & Karaman Pagava, 2020. "Depressive symptoms among adolescents in Georgia: the role of ethnicity, low self-control, parents, and peers," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 65(8), pages 1373-1382, November.
    12. Shigekazu Ukawa & Akiko Tamakoshi & Hiroshi Yatsuya & Kazumasa Yamagishi & Masahiko Ando & Hiroyasu Iso, 2017. "Passive smoking and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease mortality: findings from the Japan collaborative cohort study," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 62(4), pages 489-494, May.
    13. Benjamin Clark, 2013. "Multilateral, regional, and national determinants of policy adoption: the case of HIV/AIDS legislative action," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 58(2), pages 285-293, April.
    14. Katerina Paclikova & Zuzana Dankulincova Veselska & Daniela Filakovska Bobakova & Michaela Palfiova & Andrea Madarasova Geckova, 2019. "What role do family composition and functioning play in emotional and behavioural problems among adolescent boys and girls?," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 64(2), pages 209-217, March.
    15. Olaf J de Groot & Carlos Bozzoli & Anousheh Alamir & Tilman Brück, 2022. "The global economic burden of violent conflict," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 59(2), pages 259-276, March.
    16. Bosiljka Djikanovic & Željka Stamenkovic & Vesna Bjegovic Mikanovic & Dejana Vukovic & Vladimir S. Gordeev & Natasa Maksimovic, 2018. "Negative attitudes related to violence against women: gender and ethnic differences among youth living in Serbia," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 63(8), pages 923-932, November.
    17. Thomas K. Dasaklis & Costas P. Pappis, 2018. "Critical success factors for implementing cholera vaccination campaigns in humanitarian emergencies: a DEMATEL-based approach," EURO Journal on Decision Processes, Springer;EURO - The Association of European Operational Research Societies, vol. 6(1), pages 1-20, June.
    18. Eric Lente & Margaret Barry & Michal Molcho & Karen Morgan & Dorothy Watson & Janas Harrington & Hannah McGee, 2012. "Measuring population mental health and social well-being," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 57(2), pages 421-430, April.
    19. Bruno Linetzky & Fernando Maio & Daniel Ferrante & Jonatan Konfino & Carlos Boissonnet, 2013. "Sex-stratified socio-economic gradients in physical inactivity, obesity, and diabetes: evidence of short-term changes in Argentina," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 58(2), pages 277-284, April.
    20. Jalil Koohpayehzadeh & Koorosh Etemad & Mehrshad Abbasi & Alipasha Meysamie & Sara Sheikhbahaei & Fereshteh Asgari & Sina Noshad & Nima Hafezi-Nejad & Ali Rafei & Mostafa Mousavizadeh & Elias Khajeh &, 2014. "Gender-specific changes in physical activity pattern in Iran: national surveillance of risk factors of non-communicable diseases (2007–2011)," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 59(2), pages 231-241, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:ijphth:v:63:y:2018:i:5:d:10.1007_s00038-018-1092-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.