Enhancing Tuberculosis Care in Southwestern Uganda: Facilitators and Barriers to Utilizing Mobile Health Technologies

Abstract

Although mobile health technologies are low-cost approaches that can enhance tuberculosis care, there is a dearth of research about the facilitators and barriers regarding their utilization in enhancing the public–private mix. The aim of this study is to explore the facilitators and barriers to utilizing mobile health technologies in fostering public–private mix for tuberculosis care in Southwestern Uganda, this was a qualitative study that involved in-depth interviews with 13 key informants (private healthcare workers) purposively selected between June and July 2020 due to their active involvement in tuberculosis care from four private hospitals in Mbarara city. An inductive content analysis approach based on the constructs of the consolidated framework for implementation research was used in this study. The main facilitators were related to design quality and packaging, cosmopolitanism, relative advantage, networks and communication, and engaging constructs and these include mapping and linking patients from private hospitals to the referral units; supporting patient care and medication adherence; reducing stigma among patients; enhancing communication between facilities; improving the knowledge and beliefs of healthcare workers and patients; as well as notifying and reporting tuberculosis cases to the Ugandan Ministry of Health. Poor internet connections and lack of knowledge to use mobile health interventions were the barriers that emerged from networks and communications; and knowledge and benefits about the intervention constructs. Mobile health could enhance tuberculosis care by linking the referred patients from private hospitals to public hospitals. Future research should focus on the effectiveness of mobile health technologies in enhancing the public–private mix in tuberculosis care in low-resource settings.