ICT and collaborative management of terminal cancer patients at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria
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ORIGINAL PAPER
ICT and collaborative management of terminal cancer patients at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria Williams E. Nwagwu & Gabriel O. Adegunwa & Olaitan Alice Soyannwo
Received: 23 January 2013 / Accepted: 5 July 2013 # IUPESM and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Abstract Information and communication technologies (ICTs) facilitate health information sharing, and they play crucial roles when patients are debilitated by terminal diseases such as advanced cancer, and require multiple provider care. This study examined how ICTs are being used to share information among medical/paramedical team, the sick and with families/relatives and other stakeholders for the purpose of managing patients with advanced cancer at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Nigeria’s largest teaching hospital. Data was collected from 50 medical practitioners involved in palliative care in the Centre for Palliative Care Unit, Radiotherapy Department and Internal Medicine Department. The doctors reported using mobile phones to link their clients and clients’ relatives more than they did with other technologies, but relations/families of patients reported using a wider range of technologies to link doctors. Mobile fit the working environment in the palliative care where nurses and doctors move around constantly and collaborate extensively. UCH must embark on ICT infrastructure and W. E. Nwagwu (*) : G. O. Adegunwa Africa Regional Centre for Information Science, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria e-mail: [email protected] G. O. Adegunwa e-mail: [email protected] O. A. Soyannwo Hospice and Palliative Daycare Centre, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria e-mail: [email protected] O. A. Soyannwo Department of Anaesthesia, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria W. E. Nwagwu Department of Information Science, University of South Africa, Preller Street Muckleneuk, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
skill expansion projects, encompassing promoting clinical uses of the technology such as point of care (in the examination room), electronic health records, clinical decision support tools, and order entry systems, among others. Keywords ICT . Terminal cancer . University College Hospital . Ibadan
1 Introduction Cancer is a life-threatening, and sometimes, a life-long disease and managing patients with advanced cases often requires palliative care. Adequate palliative care requires movement from care delivery by a single provider and location to care delivery by multiple providers across multiple settings [1], and this task is information intensive. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) play a great role in facilitating the processing and transmission of information as well as in knowledge sharing among patients and doctors and other stakeholders. Making information available could enable physicians to undertake thorough diagnoses and treatments or address patients’ concerns just as greater access to information about previous care, medication prescriptions, laboratory t
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