Chabeda, S.; Shilton, S.; Manguro, G.; Omenda, S.; Owira, P.; Martínez-Pérez, A.G.Z. Decision-takers’ Attitudes Towards SARS-CoV-2 Self-Testing in Kenya: A Qualitative Inquiry. Preprints2022, 2022050130. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202205.0130.v1
APA Style
Chabeda, S., Shilton, S., Manguro, G., Omenda, S., Owira, P., & Martínez-Pérez, A.G.Z. (2022). Decision-takers’ Attitudes Towards SARS-CoV-2 Self-Testing in Kenya: A Qualitative Inquiry. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202205.0130.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Chabeda, S., Patricia Owira and And Guillermo Z. Martínez-Pérez. 2022 "Decision-takers’ Attitudes Towards SARS-CoV-2 Self-Testing in Kenya: A Qualitative Inquiry" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202205.0130.v1
Abstract
Rapid SARS-CoV-2 self-tests have the potential to expand access to COVID-19 testing and improve community-level case detection, particularly in resource-constrained countries such as Kenya. However, prior to their introduction, their acceptability must be assessed. This qualitative study explored key decision-takers’ values towards SARS-CoV-2 self-testing in Kenya. Healthcare workers, representatives of civil society, and potential implementors from Mombasa and Taita-Taveta were selected as decision-takers. Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect data on their values towards self-testing. A thematic analysis approach was applied. Most informants considered that the Kenyan public is equipped to accept and use self-testing safely as an approach to help to reduce workload at public healthcare facilities, and know one’s COVID-19 status in a private manner. The informants emphasized the need to provide counselling to end-users, to support those needing to self-isolate, and to engage different civil society stakeholders in information provision on self-testing. Fear of stigma and of forced isolation were noted as potential deterrents to self-testing uptake for some individuals. In conclusion, there is high acceptability of self-testing in Kenya among decision-takers. However, enhanced education, counselling, and addressing deterrents to testing would be helpful to ensure effective use of SARS-CoV-2 self-testing in Kenya.
Keywords
Kenya; COVID-19; community representatives; self-testing; diagnostics; qualitative research
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Health Policy and Services
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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