TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation of a Digital Self-management Platform for Patients With Chronic Illness in Primary Care
T2 - Qualitative Study of Stakeholders' Perspectives
AU - van de Vijver, Steven
AU - Hummel, Deirdre
AU - van Dijk, Annericht Hester
AU - Cox, Jan
AU - van Dijk, Oscar
AU - van den Broek, Nicoline
AU - Metting, Esther
N1 - Funding Information: We would like to thank Vladan Ilic, the inventor of this new model of care, for his support in conducting the research in his practice. We would also like to thank Oscar van Dijk, who has supported the Viduet platform technically and provided input and clarifications during the research. In addition, we would like to thank Femke Oomen for her support in drawing the figures. Finally, we thank Dr Robert Sykes [46] for providing technical editing in the final drafts of this manuscript. Publisher Copyright: ©Steven van de Vijver, Deirdre Hummel, Annericht Hester van Dijk, Jan Cox, Oscar van Dijk, Nicoline Van den Broek, Esther Metting. Originally published in JMIR Formative Research (https://formative.jmir.org), 03.08.2022.
PY - 2022/8/1
Y1 - 2022/8/1
N2 - Background: Population aging and multimorbidity has led to increasing chronic care needs associated with new challenges in managing growing costs, rising health care professional workloads, and the adoption of rigorous guidelines. These issues could all benefit from greater digitalization and a more patient-centered approach to chronic care, a situation brought to the fore by the COVID-19 pandemic. Little is known about real-life use in primary care. Objective: This study aimed to explore the views, thoughts, usability, and experiences concerning a recently introduced digital self-care platform for chronic conditions in 3 Dutch primary care practices. Methods: We conducted an explorative study combining questionnaires and interviews among patients and general practitioners from 3 general practices that used the digital platform. Questionnaires were sent to patients in each practice to seek the views and experiences of both patient nonusers (n=20) and patient users (n=58) of the platform, together with standardized questionnaires about illness perception and quality of life. In addition, patients (n=15) and general practitioners (n=4) who used the platform took part in semistructured interviews. We transcribed interviews verbatim and performed qualitative content analysis using a deductive approach. The results of the questionnaires were analyzed with descriptive analysis. Results: Among patients who had not actively used the platform but had received an explanation, only 35% (7/20) would recommend its use due to concerns over communication and handling. However, this percentage increased to 76.3% (45/59) among the people who actively used the platform. Interviews with patients and general practitioners who used the platform uncovered several key benefits, including reduced time requirements, reduced workload, improved care quality, and improved accessibility due to the greater patient-centeredness and use of different communication tools. In addition, the self-management tool led to greater patient autonomy and empowerment. Although users considered the platform feasible, usable, and easy to use, some technical issues remained and some patients expressed concerns about the reduction in human contact and feedback. Conclusions: The overall experience and usability of the platform was good. Support for the online self-management platform for chronic care increased when patients actively used the tool and could experience or identify important advantages. However, patients still noted several areas for improvement that need to be tackled in future iterations. To ensure benefit in the wider population, we must also evaluate this platform in cohorts with lower digital and health literacy.
AB - Background: Population aging and multimorbidity has led to increasing chronic care needs associated with new challenges in managing growing costs, rising health care professional workloads, and the adoption of rigorous guidelines. These issues could all benefit from greater digitalization and a more patient-centered approach to chronic care, a situation brought to the fore by the COVID-19 pandemic. Little is known about real-life use in primary care. Objective: This study aimed to explore the views, thoughts, usability, and experiences concerning a recently introduced digital self-care platform for chronic conditions in 3 Dutch primary care practices. Methods: We conducted an explorative study combining questionnaires and interviews among patients and general practitioners from 3 general practices that used the digital platform. Questionnaires were sent to patients in each practice to seek the views and experiences of both patient nonusers (n=20) and patient users (n=58) of the platform, together with standardized questionnaires about illness perception and quality of life. In addition, patients (n=15) and general practitioners (n=4) who used the platform took part in semistructured interviews. We transcribed interviews verbatim and performed qualitative content analysis using a deductive approach. The results of the questionnaires were analyzed with descriptive analysis. Results: Among patients who had not actively used the platform but had received an explanation, only 35% (7/20) would recommend its use due to concerns over communication and handling. However, this percentage increased to 76.3% (45/59) among the people who actively used the platform. Interviews with patients and general practitioners who used the platform uncovered several key benefits, including reduced time requirements, reduced workload, improved care quality, and improved accessibility due to the greater patient-centeredness and use of different communication tools. In addition, the self-management tool led to greater patient autonomy and empowerment. Although users considered the platform feasible, usable, and easy to use, some technical issues remained and some patients expressed concerns about the reduction in human contact and feedback. Conclusions: The overall experience and usability of the platform was good. Support for the online self-management platform for chronic care increased when patients actively used the tool and could experience or identify important advantages. However, patients still noted several areas for improvement that need to be tackled in future iterations. To ensure benefit in the wider population, we must also evaluate this platform in cohorts with lower digital and health literacy.
KW - chronic care
KW - chronic care management
KW - chronic disease
KW - communication
KW - digital health
KW - empowerment
KW - healthcare
KW - healthcare professional
KW - illness
KW - online
KW - patient
KW - patient-centered care
KW - platform
KW - primary care
KW - self-management
KW - telemonitoring
KW - tool
KW - user
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85135910131&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.2196/38424
DO - https://doi.org/10.2196/38424
M3 - Article
C2 - 35921145
SN - 2561-326X
VL - 6
JO - JMIR formative research
JF - JMIR formative research
IS - 8
M1 - e38424
ER -