Patient experience of care in sub-Saharan Africa: A narrative overview

Abstract

ABSTRACT Patient experience of healthcare is increasingly recognized as a key dimension of healthcare quality, alongside clinical effectiveness and patient safety. While the focus of many developed countries is increasingly shifting from patient satisfaction to monitoring and evaluating patients’ care experiences, the concentration of many sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries is still on the evaluation of patient satisfaction with care. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to provide a narrative overview of patient experience of care (PEC) research and initiatives in SSA. A non-systematic literature search for relevant published and unpublished records was conducted on five electronic databases: Medline/PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and African Index Medicus (AIM). The health ministry/department websites of the various SSA countries were also searched manually for additional information on nationally established patient experience survey programs. This review has established that few individual PEC research activities have been undertaken in SSA, and these have been concentrated in Ethiopia and South Africa. It could, therefore, be concluded, based on the available evidence, that PEC is under-researched in the SSA region. This paper has provided a broad perspective on the concept of PEC within the SSA region.