Barriers and facilitators to the use of virtual wards: a systematic review of the qualitative evidence.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Virtual wards offer an alternative to traditional inpatient care, delivering acute care, monitoring, and treatment at home to prevent hospital admissions or facilitate early discharge. The aim of our qualitative systematic review was to understand the barriers to and facilitators for the successful implementation and sustainability of virtual wards from the perspective of any involved stakeholder, using behavioural change models.

Methods

The review protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42024519627). The following databases were searched: Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Academic Search Complete. A three-stage deductive content analysis, as recommended for applying the COM-B (Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation-Behaviour) model and TDF (Theoretical Doma

SUBMITTER: Cucurachi S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12342918 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature