Strengthening Community Health Systems Through Novel eHealth Initiatives? Commencing a Realist Study of the Virtual Health Rooms in Rural Northern Sweden
BackgroundUnlike the large body of research that has examined the ‘success’ or ‘failure’ of eHealth in terms of patient and provider perceptions or cost- and clinical effectiveness, the current study teases out ways through which a novel eHealth initiative in rural northern Sweden might result in mo...
Published in: | International Journal of Health Policy and Management |
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Kerman University of Medical Sciences
2022
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:d73d18c3db084d79a30242b709f044b8 2023-05-15T17:44:20+02:00 Strengthening Community Health Systems Through Novel eHealth Initiatives? Commencing a Realist Study of the Virtual Health Rooms in Rural Northern Sweden Frida Jonsson Dean B. Carson Isabel Goicolea Anna-Karin Hurtig 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.34172/ijhpm.2021.08 https://doaj.org/article/d73d18c3db084d79a30242b709f044b8 EN eng Kerman University of Medical Sciences https://www.ijhpm.com/article_4010_1b14ad3fd795ed89576a113d61305490.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/2322-5939 2322-5939 doi:10.34172/ijhpm.2021.08 https://doaj.org/article/d73d18c3db084d79a30242b709f044b8 International Journal of Health Policy and Management, Vol 11, Iss Special Issue on CHS-Connect, Pp 39-48 (2022) northern sweden ehealth realist evaluation community health system person-centred care Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.34172/ijhpm.2021.08 2023-03-12T01:33:37Z BackgroundUnlike the large body of research that has examined the ‘success’ or ‘failure’ of eHealth in terms of patient and provider perceptions or cost- and clinical effectiveness, the current study teases out ways through which a novel eHealth initiative in rural northern Sweden might result in more distal or systemic beneficial outcomes. More specifically, this paper aims to explore how and under what circumstances the so-called virtual health rooms (VHRs) are expected to improve access to person-centred care and strengthen community health systems, especially for elderly residents of rural areas. MethodsThe first phase of the realist evaluation methodology was conducted, involving qualitative interviews with 8 key stakeholders working with eHealth, business development, digitalisation, and process management. Using thematic analysis and following an abductive-retroductive analytical process, an intervention-context-actor-mechanism-outcome (ICAMO) configuration was developed and elicited into an initial programme theory. ResultsThe findings indicate that a novel eHealth initiative, which provides reliable technologies in a customized facility that connects communities and providers, might improve access to person-centred care and strengthen community health systems for rural populations. This is theorized to occur if mechanisms acting at individual (such as knowledge, skills and trust) and collective (like a common vision and shared responsibilities) levels are triggered in contexts characterised by supportive societal transitions, sufficient organisational readiness and the harnessing of rural cohesiveness and creativity. ConclusionThe elicited initial programme theory describes and explains how a novel eHealth initiative in rural northern Sweden is presumed to operate and under what circumstances. Further testing, refinements and continued gradual building of theory following the realist evaluation methodology is now needed to ascertain if the ‘VHRs’ work as intended, for whom, in what conditions and why. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Sweden Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles International Journal of Health Policy and Management |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
northern sweden ehealth realist evaluation community health system person-centred care Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
northern sweden ehealth realist evaluation community health system person-centred care Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Frida Jonsson Dean B. Carson Isabel Goicolea Anna-Karin Hurtig Strengthening Community Health Systems Through Novel eHealth Initiatives? Commencing a Realist Study of the Virtual Health Rooms in Rural Northern Sweden |
topic_facet |
northern sweden ehealth realist evaluation community health system person-centred care Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
BackgroundUnlike the large body of research that has examined the ‘success’ or ‘failure’ of eHealth in terms of patient and provider perceptions or cost- and clinical effectiveness, the current study teases out ways through which a novel eHealth initiative in rural northern Sweden might result in more distal or systemic beneficial outcomes. More specifically, this paper aims to explore how and under what circumstances the so-called virtual health rooms (VHRs) are expected to improve access to person-centred care and strengthen community health systems, especially for elderly residents of rural areas. MethodsThe first phase of the realist evaluation methodology was conducted, involving qualitative interviews with 8 key stakeholders working with eHealth, business development, digitalisation, and process management. Using thematic analysis and following an abductive-retroductive analytical process, an intervention-context-actor-mechanism-outcome (ICAMO) configuration was developed and elicited into an initial programme theory. ResultsThe findings indicate that a novel eHealth initiative, which provides reliable technologies in a customized facility that connects communities and providers, might improve access to person-centred care and strengthen community health systems for rural populations. This is theorized to occur if mechanisms acting at individual (such as knowledge, skills and trust) and collective (like a common vision and shared responsibilities) levels are triggered in contexts characterised by supportive societal transitions, sufficient organisational readiness and the harnessing of rural cohesiveness and creativity. ConclusionThe elicited initial programme theory describes and explains how a novel eHealth initiative in rural northern Sweden is presumed to operate and under what circumstances. Further testing, refinements and continued gradual building of theory following the realist evaluation methodology is now needed to ascertain if the ‘VHRs’ work as intended, for whom, in what conditions and why. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Frida Jonsson Dean B. Carson Isabel Goicolea Anna-Karin Hurtig |
author_facet |
Frida Jonsson Dean B. Carson Isabel Goicolea Anna-Karin Hurtig |
author_sort |
Frida Jonsson |
title |
Strengthening Community Health Systems Through Novel eHealth Initiatives? Commencing a Realist Study of the Virtual Health Rooms in Rural Northern Sweden |
title_short |
Strengthening Community Health Systems Through Novel eHealth Initiatives? Commencing a Realist Study of the Virtual Health Rooms in Rural Northern Sweden |
title_full |
Strengthening Community Health Systems Through Novel eHealth Initiatives? Commencing a Realist Study of the Virtual Health Rooms in Rural Northern Sweden |
title_fullStr |
Strengthening Community Health Systems Through Novel eHealth Initiatives? Commencing a Realist Study of the Virtual Health Rooms in Rural Northern Sweden |
title_full_unstemmed |
Strengthening Community Health Systems Through Novel eHealth Initiatives? Commencing a Realist Study of the Virtual Health Rooms in Rural Northern Sweden |
title_sort |
strengthening community health systems through novel ehealth initiatives? commencing a realist study of the virtual health rooms in rural northern sweden |
publisher |
Kerman University of Medical Sciences |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.34172/ijhpm.2021.08 https://doaj.org/article/d73d18c3db084d79a30242b709f044b8 |
genre |
Northern Sweden |
genre_facet |
Northern Sweden |
op_source |
International Journal of Health Policy and Management, Vol 11, Iss Special Issue on CHS-Connect, Pp 39-48 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.ijhpm.com/article_4010_1b14ad3fd795ed89576a113d61305490.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/2322-5939 2322-5939 doi:10.34172/ijhpm.2021.08 https://doaj.org/article/d73d18c3db084d79a30242b709f044b8 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.34172/ijhpm.2021.08 |
container_title |
International Journal of Health Policy and Management |
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1766146535658094592 |