An electronic health record system with information sharing and data re-use capabilities for diabetic patients
Date
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Diabetes is a significant cause of adult disability and death in Ghana. People living with diabetes experience complex psychosocial challenges, including psychological and emotional insecurities, limited social support, and inadvertent HIV/AIDS stigma. Management and self-care are weak, and healer-shopping between medical systems is standard. Significant limitations exist with diabetes care, including poor diabetes education, a lack of guidelines for diabetes care, erratic supply of essential diabetes drugs at health facilities, and poorly trained diabetes health care professionals, including doctors, nurses, and dieticians. We consider challenges for research, healthcare, and policy. This project focuses on how an electronic health record can facilitate healthcare tasks and, based on the findings, develop a technological platform to help people with diabetes in Ghana to get quick access to healthcare, and constant medical assistance while facilitating the work of healthcare actors. After interviewing 50 Ghanaians with diabetes, the significant findings were that people with diabetes in Ghana do not have access to convenient healthcare. The interviews also revealed that the healthcare routines, including regularly visiting the hospital, and checking what they eat, overwhelms the people with diabetes. This research showed that an electronic health record could allow self-management for the diabetics; it could be used as a medium for permanent medical consultation. Relying on my findings, this project developed a platform that will help people with diabetes to get medical assistance wherever they are and whenever they need it by keeping track of their medical record, reminding them of their daily routines and also allowing permanent communication with their medical doctors. The platform facilitates medical appointment booking and check-ups. The user of the platform is able to track their calories and sugar consumption. Looking at the long run, the platform will serve as an electronic medical record that will not only help people with diabetes but non-diabetics as well. Further updates will be made to adjust the platform to technological advancement.