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During the congress, E-Posters will be accessible to all participants on the congress website 24/7, as well as in the E-poster stations in the congress center.
Preparing your E-Poster
Please review the E-Poster format requirements carefully when preparing your E-Poster. Should your E-Poster not meet the mentioned requirements, it may not be displayed as described above.
E-Poster Submission Deadline
Please prepare and upload your E-Poster no later than March 14, 2026 11.59PM CET. After this date, you will no longer be able to prepare and upload your E-poster and it will not be displayed and accessible on the congress website.
Please follow the instructions below to input your abstract title.
Abstract titles should be brief and reflect the content of the abstract.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) presents a growing public health burden in South Africa, where most cases are diagnosed at advanced stages due to limited early detection initiatives. Digital health innovations have the potential to strengthen screening and monitoring programmes, but adoption remains slow and fragmented. Leadership is an essential determinant of successful digital transformation, yet there is limited evidence on how nephrology leaders influence or respond to this shift. This study aimed to examine the relationship between strategic leadership practices and digital transformation readiness within CKD early detection programmes in South Africa.
A quatitative descriptive study was conducted using a digital questionnaire distributed to nephrology leaders and decision ,alers across public and private healthcare sectors. The instrument included closed-ended and open-ended questions assessing leadership approaches, engagement in strategic planning, familiarity with digital and artificial intellif=gence (AI) tools, and perceived barriers to tehcnology adoption. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics for quantititave items ad thematic analysis for quanlitative responses.
A total of 11 nephrology leaders participated in the study. The majority reported continued reliance on paper-based methods for patient data capture, with less than one-third indicating consistent strategic planning for CKD early detection. Transformational leadership was the most frequently reported leadership style, followed by adaptive leadership. Familiarity with digital health tools was moderate (mean 2.6/5), and 55% of respondents reported no current use of AI or digital solutions within their institutions. Key themes emergeing from open-ended responses included the need for workforce training, policy integration, ivestment in digital infrastructure, adn the establishment of national data systems. Respodants identified inadequate resources, poor interoperability, adn limited institutionalk support as major barriers to digital tranformation.
The findings indicate that South Africa's nephrology sector remains in the early stages of digital transformation. Although leaders recognise the importance of digitisation for CKD prevention and management, implementation is hindered by infrastructural, policy, and capacity challenges. Strengthening leadership through targeted development programmes, coupled with phased digital implementation strategies, could enhance early detection, improve coordination of care, and reduce progression to kidney failure. These results highlight the need for integrated leadership frameworks and sustained investment in digital health to achieve better kidney health outcomes in developing country contexts.
Declaration of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process:
The author used generative artifical intelligence (ChatGPT, OpenAI) to assist with language refinement and structural editing during the writing of this abstract. All research concepts, data intepretation, and conclusions are the author's own, and the final version was critically reviewd and approved by the author.
