Healthcare innovation adoption in Africa: the case of long-lasting insecticide nets in Ghana using protection motivation theory.

Objective: Studies have shown that healthcare innovation adoption is complex. Using Long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs), an innovation for malaria prevention, the study aimed to understand factors considered in the adoption of healthcare innovations in Africa.

Methods And Measures: Using qualitative methods, we interviewed 10 household heads in Ghana who had freely received LLINs during a malaria campaign. We analyzed our data using a deductive thematic analysis approach utilizing the protection motivation theory (PMT) as our framework.

Results: We found that the constructs of PMT: perceived severity, perceived vulnerability, perceived response efficacy, and perceived self-efficacy influenced the adoption of healthcare innovation (i.e. LLINs). We also found that misconceptions about malaria infection and prevention influenced the perceived response efficacy of LLINs which could undermine LLINs usage.

Conclusion: The constructs of PMT are important in the decision to use LLINs. Misconceptions about malaria infection and prevention could undermine the decision to use LLINs. Future studies should investigate ways to address these misconceptions.