Paper Title
Experiences of Healthcare Providers Caring for Seniors in a Rural Community Hospital in Njombe, Tanzania

Abstract
The increase of people 60 years and older is occurring at an unprecedented pace in all LMICs, this phenomenon is particularly observed in Tanzania, where 5% of its 38 million inhabitants are seniors. Although in short supply, particularly in rural areas, healthcare providers have a pivotal role and are uniquely positioned to influence the quality of care for seniors. The existing literature is largely focused on the attitudes of clinicians towards seniors, and not on their experiences providing care to those patients. Therefore, this qualitative descriptive study explored the experiences of a purposive sample of nine healthcare providers caring for older patients in a private, rural community hospital in Njombe, Tanzania. In Fall 2019, participants were interviewed in-person, and transcripts were thematically analyzed. The SRQR checklist was used. Results revealed that elders and healthcare providers have diverging ideologies. Clinicians’ beliefs were biomedically inclined, whereas those of the elders were culturally based. Both groups had varying levels of access to healthcare resources; clinicians requested more institutional resources whereas older adults had insufficient financial capacity. Despite not being fully aware of the use of telehealth, clinicians were utilized their mobile devices to provide remote care to seniors in the community. To conclude, this study showed that the experiences and perceptions of healthcare providers, in addition to those of the elders themselves, are crucial to understanding the gap in service delivery between both groups, and to enhance the effectiveness of the health system in Tanzania. Keywords - Rural Healthcare, Tele health, Seniors, Healthcare Professionals, Tanzania, Qualitative Descriptive.