Using e-Delphi to formulate and appraise the guidelines for women’s health concerns at a coal mine: A case study

BACKGROUND: E-Delphi is an online method widely used in health and social research to strengthen decision-making processes and reach consensus on developing guidelines for health services. OBJECTIVES: The e-Delphi technique was designed to formulate and appraise a set of criterion-referenced guidelines for women’s health concerns of mineworkers at a selected coal mine in Mpumalanga, South Africa. METHOD: The University Learning Management System’s discussion forum was customised to suit the characteristics of e-Delphi as the second phase of a primary study on the formulation of guidelines for women’s health concerns. Six purposively sampled experts with extensive experience in Occupational Health and in Women’s Health participated. Online engagements on the formulation and appraisal of the guidelines for women’s health concerns took 7 weeks, divided into four phases as preparatory, exploratory, consensus and refinement. From the experts’ inputs, guidelines were drafted. Experts were invited to evaluate the guidelines by using a 7-point Likert scale with AGREE II criteria. Consensus was reached in two e-rounds. RESULTS: Eight guidelines were formulated, appraised and adopted as: change management, control of hazardous environments, suitable psychosocial working environment, provision of health care service, uphold human dignity and adherence to human rights, effective measures for safety participation compliance, accessible, available and relevant on-site health care services and hope and resilience. Each guideline has rationale, operational strategies and anticipated outcomes. CONCLUSION: E-Delphi platform used various tools to deliberate on the process of guidelines formulation and appraisal. The platform was convenient for the experts’ participation in the discussion at any time and anywhere.