Telehealth acceptance and challenges among healthcare providers in the management of chronic conditions in Palestine: a cross-sectional study
- 1Faculty of Nursing, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine
- 2Faculty of Medicine and Allied Medical Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine
Abstract
Background: Telehealth is emerging as an effective approach for the improvement of chronic illness care, especially in resource-limited health systems. However, successful implementation relies on acceptance of and belief in organizational readiness from healthcare providers. Evidence from Palestine remains limited.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out, involving 450 HCWs working in hospitals, primary healthcare centers and outpatient clinics in the State of Palestine. The Saudi Telehealth Acceptance Scale in line with the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model was adapted to collect data. Univariate statistics and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to explore predictive factors of behavioral intention towards telehealth use.
Results: Participants had generally favorable perceptions of telehealth in the domains of performance expectancy, effort expectancy and behavioral intention. Over half of all respondents strongly agreed with the benefits of telehealth, including the ability to complete clinical tasks faster (52.2%) and improve access to healthcare services (43.1%). The behavioral intention to use telehealth was large, with 55.1% of patients agreeing that they would utilize telehealth if offered. Facilitating conditions demonstrated relatively lower high agreement across all items, with presence of technical knowledge and support availability being the lowest. And regression analysis indicated that performance expectancy (β = 0.293, p < 0.001), social influence (β = 0.245, p < 0.001) and facilitating conditions (β = 0.232, p < 0.001) had a significant effect on behavioral intention with an explanation of variance at the rate of 52.7%.
Conclusion: Health care providers in Palestine reported generally favorable acceptance of telehealth for chronic disease management. Yet, cross-system features including technical assistance and infrastructure are still key influences of implementation sustainment. Working on these structural barriers can help the integration of telehealth within the Palestinian health system.
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BibTeX
@article{dwikat2026telehealth,
title = {{Telehealth acceptance and challenges among healthcare providers in the management of chronic conditions in Palestine: a cross-sectional study}},
author = {Mohammed Dwikat and Jumana Najjar and Roaa Zeineddin},
journal = {BMC Health Services Research},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1186/s12913-026-15283-7},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-026-15283-7},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Telehealth acceptance and challenges among healthcare providers in the management of chronic conditions in Palestine: a cross-sectional study
AU - Mohammed Dwikat
AU - Jumana Najjar
AU - Roaa Zeineddin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/05
JO - BMC Health Services Research
DO - 10.1186/s12913-026-15283-7
UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-026-15283-7
AB - Background: Telehealth is emerging as an effective approach for the improvement of chronic illness care, especially in resource-limited health systems. However, successful implementation relies on acceptance of and belief in organizational readiness from healthcare providers. Evidence from Palestine remains limited. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out, involving 450 HCWs working in hospitals, primary healthcare centers and outpatient clinics in the State of Palestine. The Saudi Telehealth Acceptance Scale in line with the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model was adapted to collect data. Univariate statistics and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to explore predictive factors of behavioral intention towards telehealth use. Results: Participants had generally favorable perceptions of telehealth in the domains of performance expectancy, effort expectancy and behavioral intention. Over half of all respondents strongly agreed with the benefits of telehealth, including the ability to complete clinical tasks faster (52.2%) and improve access to healthcare services (43.1%). The behavioral intention to use telehealth was large, with 55.1% of patients agreeing that they would utilize telehealth if offered. Facilitating conditions demonstrated relatively lower high agreement across all items, with presence of technical knowledge and support availability being the lowest. And regression analysis indicated that performance expectancy (β = 0.293, p < 0.001), social influence (β = 0.245, p < 0.001) and facilitating conditions (β = 0.232, p < 0.001) had a significant effect on behavioral intention with an explanation of variance at the rate of 52.7%. Conclusion: Health care providers in Palestine reported generally favorable acceptance of telehealth for chronic disease management. Yet, cross-system features including technical assistance and infrastructure are still key influences of implementation sustainment. Working on these structural barriers can help the integration of telehealth within the Palestinian health system.
SN - 1472-6963
ER -