One important problem of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), and especially for hypertension and diabetes, is the cascade of care. The main problem is the lack of awareness and of access to diagnosis, treatment and monitoring to reach treatment goals. Nowadays, basic testing for diagnosis and monitoring of common NCDs is available, however frequently not at primary healthcare (PHC) level. Implementation of point of care (POC) devices could improve this situation, however; organizational, environmental, operational and technical limitations may challenge its use. To define the best strategy to implement POC devices at PHC level, a co-creation process based on previously established methods will be adapted.

Aim:

Co-create with stakeholders the strategy to implement POC devices at PHC level in urban and rural areas in Tumbes, for a potential scale to other regions in Peru.

Study design:

This is a descriptive and non-experimental study that uses participatory methodologies. This study will be conducted in Tumbes, in northern Peru, in one rural and one urban community. In a first phase, a scoping review will be conducted to identify studies that have implemented point-of-care devices in chronic disease and that have identified barriers and enablers for use them in low- and middle-income countries. In the second phase, we will perform two rounds of co-creation workshops; and in-depth interviews will be held with national decision makers to define the best strategies that will achieve the objectives of the study. The participants will be: community members; community leaders; health workers; regional authorities or also medical staff and national decision makers.

Result:

The results of this study will allow to propose, discuss and prioritize the most feasible strategies for a future implementation of POC testing devices for non-communicable diseases in a rural and an urban community in a region of Peru.

Contact:

María Lazo Porras MD, MSc

maria.lazo@upch.pe