The feasibility of the ‘treat and teach’ telemedicine package: the Somali pilot

• DOI: 10.1007/s12553-020-00475-w
• Publication Date: 2020-08-19T16:04:11Z
• Authors: Hoda MF Wahba; Tamer H. Emara; Ahmed Elbokl; Muhyadin Hassan M...; Abdisalam M. Essa...; Abdalla Abdisalam...
• Keywords: Somali

Telemedicine has proven to help fill the gap of deficiency of healthcare services whether due to deficient numbers of specialists or unavailability of specialized care in under privileged areas. To study the feasibility of implementing the “Treat and Teach’ initiative package at the East Africa University (EAU), somalia. An observational study that implemented its “Treat and Teach” package at the East Africa University, bosaso, somalia recruiting the Somali healthcare team. Acceptance of stakeholders, knowledge and confidence of physicians, percentage of undiagnosed cases and causes were assessed pre-and post-intervention. Needs assessment revealed several deficits as specialized cardiological, neurological and critical care. The ‘Treat and Teach’ package was well accepted by stakeholders. 1500 patients presented to the new cardiology and neurology outpatient clinics. About two thirds of neurology and cardiology cases were diagnosed and treated by the trained healthcare team. The ‘Treat and Teach’ package is feasible in underprivileged areas (as somalia) as it tailors a program according to needs assessment and targets sustainability through capacity building and continuous support in all sectors not merely the medical domain.