Abstract:
The Ministry of Health in Kenya projects that deaths from
chronic conditions will increase by 65% by 2030. To
efficiently manage chronic illnesses, effective
communication between patients and healthcare
providers is of crucial importance. However, studies have
shown that many patients lack knowledge about their
conditions and the treatment processes. This study
investigated the experiences of patients and caregivers
while communicating with healthcare-providers on
management of chronic conditions. The study was
undertaken at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and
Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) in Kisumu County, Kenya. It
adopted the relativist-interpretivist paradigm and
qualitative approach to generate and analyse data.
Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used
to identify 10 patients and 5 caregivers who were drawn
from patient support groups at the hospital. 10 healthcare
providers were sampled. Data was generated through indepth interviews and focus group discussions which were
transcribed and analyzed using a thematic approach.
Study findings indicate that healthcare providers were
knowledgeable and believed that patients needed to be
given relevant information. English was the main
language used by health providers, which often created a
language barrier among patients and caregivers who did
not understand the language. This created opportunities
for misinformation when interpreters were used. The
hospital lacked trained interpreters, hence caregivers and
hospital staff acted as interpreters. This was found to
affect patients’ privacy and disclosure, especially where
the patient did not want their health information to be
accessed by a third party. Patients felt the information
they received to be inadequate.
