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The impact of digital healthcare on vulnerable pregnant women: A review of the use of the MyCare app in the maternity department at a central London tertiary unit
INTRODUCTION: Digitalisation offers innovative solutions within maternity services; however, vulnerable groups risk being overlooked. University College London Hospital's (UCLH) successful implementation of a digital maternity app, MyCare, gives women access to test results, information about a...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2023
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10161794/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37153515 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2023.1155708 |
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author | Pierce, Poppy Whitten, Melissa Hillman, Sara |
author_facet | Pierce, Poppy Whitten, Melissa Hillman, Sara |
author_sort | Pierce, Poppy |
collection | PubMed |
description | INTRODUCTION: Digitalisation offers innovative solutions within maternity services; however, vulnerable groups risk being overlooked. University College London Hospital's (UCLH) successful implementation of a digital maternity app, MyCare, gives women access to test results, information about appointments, and enables communication with healthcare professionals (HCPs). Yet, little is known about access and engagement among vulnerable pregnant women. METHODOLOGY: Research was conducted over a 3-month period (April–June 2022) in the Maternity Department at UCLH, UK. MyCare datasets were analysed, and anonymised surveys completed by vulnerable pregnant women and HCPs. RESULTS: Lower rates of utilisation and engagement with MyCare were seen in vulnerable pregnant women especially among refugee/asylum seekers, those with mental health issues, and those facing domestic violence. Non-users were also more likely to be individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds, with a lower average social-deprivation-index decile, whose first language was not English, and with a significant history of non-attendance to appointments. Patient and HCP surveys highlighted various barriers to MyCare engagement, including a lack of motivation, limited language options, low e-literacy levels, and complex app interfaces. CONCLUSION: The use of a single digital tool, without a formulated pathway to identify and assist those not accessing or engaging with it, risks unequal care provision which may exacerbate health inequalities. This research advances the idea that digital exclusion is not necessarily a matter of access to technology, but an issue of a lack of engagement with these tools. Therefore, vulnerable women and HCPs must be integral to the implementation of digital strategies, to ensure no one is left behind. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10161794 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-101617942023-05-06 The impact of digital healthcare on vulnerable pregnant women: A review of the use of the MyCare app in the maternity department at a central London tertiary unit Pierce, Poppy Whitten, Melissa Hillman, Sara Front Digit Health Digital Health INTRODUCTION: Digitalisation offers innovative solutions within maternity services; however, vulnerable groups risk being overlooked. University College London Hospital's (UCLH) successful implementation of a digital maternity app, MyCare, gives women access to test results, information about appointments, and enables communication with healthcare professionals (HCPs). Yet, little is known about access and engagement among vulnerable pregnant women. METHODOLOGY: Research was conducted over a 3-month period (April–June 2022) in the Maternity Department at UCLH, UK. MyCare datasets were analysed, and anonymised surveys completed by vulnerable pregnant women and HCPs. RESULTS: Lower rates of utilisation and engagement with MyCare were seen in vulnerable pregnant women especially among refugee/asylum seekers, those with mental health issues, and those facing domestic violence. Non-users were also more likely to be individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds, with a lower average social-deprivation-index decile, whose first language was not English, and with a significant history of non-attendance to appointments. Patient and HCP surveys highlighted various barriers to MyCare engagement, including a lack of motivation, limited language options, low e-literacy levels, and complex app interfaces. CONCLUSION: The use of a single digital tool, without a formulated pathway to identify and assist those not accessing or engaging with it, risks unequal care provision which may exacerbate health inequalities. This research advances the idea that digital exclusion is not necessarily a matter of access to technology, but an issue of a lack of engagement with these tools. Therefore, vulnerable women and HCPs must be integral to the implementation of digital strategies, to ensure no one is left behind. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-04-21 /pmc/articles/PMC10161794/ /pubmed/37153515 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2023.1155708 Text en © 2023 Pierce, Whitten and Hillman. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
spellingShingle | Digital Health Pierce, Poppy Whitten, Melissa Hillman, Sara The impact of digital healthcare on vulnerable pregnant women: A review of the use of the MyCare app in the maternity department at a central London tertiary unit |
title | The impact of digital healthcare on vulnerable pregnant women: A review of the use of the MyCare app in the maternity department at a central London tertiary unit |
title_full | The impact of digital healthcare on vulnerable pregnant women: A review of the use of the MyCare app in the maternity department at a central London tertiary unit |
title_fullStr | The impact of digital healthcare on vulnerable pregnant women: A review of the use of the MyCare app in the maternity department at a central London tertiary unit |
title_full_unstemmed | The impact of digital healthcare on vulnerable pregnant women: A review of the use of the MyCare app in the maternity department at a central London tertiary unit |
title_short | The impact of digital healthcare on vulnerable pregnant women: A review of the use of the MyCare app in the maternity department at a central London tertiary unit |
title_sort | impact of digital healthcare on vulnerable pregnant women: a review of the use of the mycare app in the maternity department at a central london tertiary unit |
topic | Digital Health |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10161794/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37153515 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2023.1155708 |
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