Experiences of patients with chronic diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic in the North West province, South Africa

South African Family Practice

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Experiences of patients with chronic diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic in the North West province, South Africa
 
Creator Mboweni, Sheillah H. Risenga, Patrone R.
 
Subject general practice; rural health, primary health care, patients with chronic diseases; COVID-19; experiences; exploring; chronic disease, healthcare facilities
Description Background: Patients with chronic diseases (PWCDs) were severely affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, as they were prevented from making the necessary visits to health facilities for medical review and to collect their medication. The emergence of the health crisis and inadequate access to quality care affected chronic care management. The perspectives of PWCDs are not known, and therefore the research on which this paper is based sought to investigate the lived experiences of these patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: A qualitative phenomenological design was used to obtain the lived experiences of PWCDs identified for participation in the study by means of purposive sampling. Patients’ experiences were obtained during individual structured interviews, and a checklist was used to gather patient characteristics from their files.Results: Three themes emerged from the study findings, namely poor healthcare services, the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic had devastating effects on PWCDs, in that they experienced barriers to accessing quality chronic care services and suffered psychological and financial difficulties that affected their health, life, needs and expectations.Conclusion: Policymakers should consider PWCDs when responding to a public health concern in the future.Contribution: The study findings may have an impact on future policies regulating the management of chronic diseases during epidemics, in order to improve patient health outcomes and satisfaction with healthcare services and the chronic care model based on the experiences of PWCDs. 
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor Department of health north west province
Date 2023-06-29
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Qualitative research
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/safp.v65i1.5643
 
Source South African Family Practice; Vol 65, No 1 (2023): Part 3; 10 pages 2078-6204 2078-6190
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/5643/8129 https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/5643/8130 https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/5643/8131 https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/5643/8132
 
Coverage South Africa 2016-2021 age; gender; residence, employment level and source off income
Rights Copyright (c) 2023 Sheillah H. Mboweni, Patrone R. Risenga https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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