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Describing the use of social media as a point-of-care tool in facility-based emergency care in Africa
Background Despite privacy and legal concerns, social media is used to provide real-time clinical support to emergency care providers. It can be particularly beneficial for those in Africa, who might lack adequate training or access to information. This PhD aimed to describe the use of social media...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Division of Emergency Medicine
2023
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| _version_ | 1867613230403158016 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Abdelrahman, Abdelmonim |
| author2 | Saunders, Colleen |
| author_browse | Abdelrahman, Abdelmonim Saunders, Colleen |
| author_facet | Saunders, Colleen Abdelrahman, Abdelmonim |
| author_sort | Abdelrahman, Abdelmonim |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Background Despite privacy and legal concerns, social media is used to provide real-time clinical support to emergency care providers. It can be particularly beneficial for those in Africa, who might lack adequate training or access to information. This PhD aimed to describe the use of social media as a point-of-care telemedicine tool in facility-based emergency care in Africa, to further inform its use. Methods A scoping review was conducted to map available literature on use, benefits, and risks associated with social media as a point-of-care platform. A mixed methods approach was then taken using a cross-sectional survey and semi-structured interviews to obtain a comprehensive description of use of social media as a point-of-care tool in facility-based emergency care in Africa. Results The scoping review identified 13 publications describing use of social media as a point-of-care tool in emergency medical settings. No studies were located in low-income countries. All studies evaluated WhatsApp use for real-time consultations, and those that assessed reliability found it to be highly reliable for consultations. A total of 70 emergency care providers in African facilities responded to the survey; nearly all worked in low- or lower-middle-income countries. Responses showed that clinicians use social media multiple times each day, primarily to share and receive advice. The majority felt social media positively impacts patient and provider experiences and improves speed and safety. Finally, eight African emergency care providers were interviewed to gain an in-depth understanding of how social media use impacts emergency care. All participants noted routine use for a range of professional purposes, including consultations, administrative tasks, and education. Concerns were mentioned by all participants, including legality, privacy, and lack of employer regulations. Conclusions This dissertation provides insight into social media use of African emergency care physicians, showing that social media use in this group is ubiquitous. Most clinicians use social media multiple times each day for a range of point-of-care purposes, and many feel social media is positively impacting both the patient and provider experiences. Post-doctoral work will focus on developing a framework to guide use of social media in facility-based emergency care in the African setting. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/38457 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:50.328Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publishDateRange | 2023 |
| publishDateSort | 2023 |
| publisher | Division of Emergency Medicine |
| publisherStr | Division of Emergency Medicine |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/38457 Describing the use of social media as a point-of-care tool in facility-based emergency care in Africa Abdelrahman, Abdelmonim Saunders, Colleen Wallis, Lee A Emergency Medicine Background Despite privacy and legal concerns, social media is used to provide real-time clinical support to emergency care providers. It can be particularly beneficial for those in Africa, who might lack adequate training or access to information. This PhD aimed to describe the use of social media as a point-of-care telemedicine tool in facility-based emergency care in Africa, to further inform its use. Methods A scoping review was conducted to map available literature on use, benefits, and risks associated with social media as a point-of-care platform. A mixed methods approach was then taken using a cross-sectional survey and semi-structured interviews to obtain a comprehensive description of use of social media as a point-of-care tool in facility-based emergency care in Africa. Results The scoping review identified 13 publications describing use of social media as a point-of-care tool in emergency medical settings. No studies were located in low-income countries. All studies evaluated WhatsApp use for real-time consultations, and those that assessed reliability found it to be highly reliable for consultations. A total of 70 emergency care providers in African facilities responded to the survey; nearly all worked in low- or lower-middle-income countries. Responses showed that clinicians use social media multiple times each day, primarily to share and receive advice. The majority felt social media positively impacts patient and provider experiences and improves speed and safety. Finally, eight African emergency care providers were interviewed to gain an in-depth understanding of how social media use impacts emergency care. All participants noted routine use for a range of professional purposes, including consultations, administrative tasks, and education. Concerns were mentioned by all participants, including legality, privacy, and lack of employer regulations. Conclusions This dissertation provides insight into social media use of African emergency care physicians, showing that social media use in this group is ubiquitous. Most clinicians use social media multiple times each day for a range of point-of-care purposes, and many feel social media is positively impacting both the patient and provider experiences. Post-doctoral work will focus on developing a framework to guide use of social media in facility-based emergency care in the African setting. 2023-09-08T08:18:46Z 2023-09-08T08:18:46Z 2023 2023-09-08T08:18:23Z Doctoral Thesis Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38457 eng application/pdf Division of Emergency Medicine Faculty of Health Sciences |
| spellingShingle | Emergency Medicine Abdelrahman, Abdelmonim Describing the use of social media as a point-of-care tool in facility-based emergency care in Africa |
| thesis_degree_str | Doctoral |
| title | Describing the use of social media as a point-of-care tool in facility-based emergency care in Africa |
| title_full | Describing the use of social media as a point-of-care tool in facility-based emergency care in Africa |
| title_fullStr | Describing the use of social media as a point-of-care tool in facility-based emergency care in Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Describing the use of social media as a point-of-care tool in facility-based emergency care in Africa |
| title_short | Describing the use of social media as a point-of-care tool in facility-based emergency care in Africa |
| title_sort | describing the use of social media as a point of care tool in facility based emergency care in africa |
| topic | Emergency Medicine |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38457 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT abdelrahmanabdelmonim describingtheuseofsocialmediaasapointofcaretoolinfacilitybasedemergencycareinafrica |