Towards ‘Formalising’ WhatsApp Teledermatology Practice in KZ-N District Hospitals: Key Informant Interviews

Christopher Morris (), Richard E. Scott and Maurice Mars
Additional contact information
Christopher Morris: Department of TeleHealth, School of Nursing & Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa
Richard E. Scott: Department of TeleHealth, School of Nursing & Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa
Maurice Mars: Department of TeleHealth, School of Nursing & Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 10, 1-17

Abstract: Introduction: District hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa, do not have onsite specialist dermatology services. Doctors at these hospitals use WhatsApp instant messaging to informally seek advice from dermatologists and colleagues before possible referral. They have expressed the need to formalise WhatsApp teledermatology. Aim: To determine the views and perspectives of clinicians on the feasibility and practicality of formalising the current WhatsApp-based teledermatology activities within the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health Dermatology Service. Methods: Key informant interviews with 12 purposively selected doctors at district hospitals and all 14 dermatologists in the KwaZulu-Natal dermatology service. Their views and perspectives on formalising the current informal use of WhatsApp for teledermatology were recorded, transcribed, and thematically analysed. Results: Five primary themes (communication, usability, utility, process, and poor understanding of legal, regulatory, and ethical issues) and 22 sub-themes were identified. Clinicians wanted WhatsApp teledermatology to continue, be formalised, and be incorporated within the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health, facilitated by the provision of practical guidelines addressing legal, regulatory, and ethical issues. Conclusions: These findings will be used to develop a policy brief, providing recommendations and proposed guidelines for formalising the teledermatology service. The findings and methods will be relevant to similar circumstances in other countries.

Keywords: instant messaging; WhatsApp; smartphones; teledermatology; South Africa; key informant interviews (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/10/1388/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/10/1388/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:10:p:1388-:d:1503135

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().