JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Hypertension is a significant public health concern in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where access to care is crucial for effective treatment and control. Virtual health modalities provide a promising solution to overcome barriers to care, particularly in under-resourced communities if those communities engage with the technology.

Objective:

To examine the perceptions and experiences of utilizing virtual health modalities for health care access among community members with or at high risk for hypertension.

Methods:

Semi-structured interviews were completed with individuals randomly selected from a sample of community members in Soweto, South Africa previously screened as having either elevated (systolic BP≥120-139 mmHg or diastolic BP≥80-89 mmHg) or high (systolic BP≥140 mmHg or diastolic BP≥90 mmHg) BP to determine if they had any experience of using virtual services and/or what their perceptions were on using such services. An interview script, grounded in the extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) model, was used to guide the interviews. Deductive thematic analysis was used to code the interviews and identify common themes.

Results:

A total of 178 community members (n=104 elevated BP; n=74 high BP) were randomly selected and invited to participate in the study. Forty interviews were conducted with individuals from the elevated (n=20) and high (n=20) BP groups. Four major themes emerged from the interviews regarding using technology to receive healthcare services: 1) trust and credibility of health professionals in a virtual environment, 2) comfort level using technology to receive healthcare, 3) past experiences using technology to receive healthcare, and 4) preference for in-person vs virtual interactions.

Conclusions:

Despite being open and receptive towards the use of virtual health modalities to receive health care, participants preferred in-person interactions due to both a lack of experience using virtual health care and familiarity with traditional in-person health services. Further research is needed to understand how technology may aid future hypertension management efforts in urban African communities.