Feasibility of a voice-enabled medical diary app (SpeakHealth) with caregivers of children with special healthcare needs and healthcare providers: A mixed methods study (Preprint)

UNSTRUCTURED Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) require more than the usual care management and coordination efforts from caregivers and health care providers (HCP). Health information and communication technologies can potentially facilitate these efforts in order to increase the quality of care received by CSHCN. In this study, we assessed the feasibility of a voice-enabled medical diary app (SpeakHealth). Following a mixed methods approach, caregivers of CSHCN were interviewed (n=10) and surveyed (n=86) about their care management and communication technology use. Only interviewed participants were introduced to SpeakHealth app prototype, and they tested the app during the interview session. In addition, we interviewed complex care HCPs (n=15) to understand their perception of the value of a home medical diary like SpeakHealth app. Overall, the findings demonstrated the needs and challenges for caregivers of CSHCN and opportunities of voice interactive medical diary apps in care management and coordination. We also reported the themes for enablers and barriers in care communication and communication technologies. We believe the perspectives of caregiver and providers suggested both benefits and challenges in using SpeakHealth app for medical note taking and health events tracking at home. We believe the findings could inform researchers and developers about development and use of a voice-enabled medical diary app.

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eHealth: advantages, disadvantages and guiding principles for the future. (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.15366 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Bruno José Nievas Soriano ◽

Sonia García Duarte ◽

Ana María Fernández Alonso ◽

Antonio Bonillo Perales ◽

Tesifón Parrón Carreño

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Information ◽

Information And Communication Technologies ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Communication Technologies ◽

Care Providers ◽

Ehealth Literacy ◽

User Empowerment ◽

The Future ◽

Information And Communication

BACKGROUND Information and communication technologies have changed the way we access, analyse and use health information. eHealth is a new concept that has been in use for almost two decades. Nevertheless, even today, there is little consensus on eHealth definitions, its main advantages or disadvantages and the future development of eHealth research. OBJECTIVE This paper aims to define the concept of eHealth, recognise its main advantages and potential harms or challenges and acknowledge the aspects of eHealth that need to be explored in future research. METHODS A literature review was conducted by searching all peer-reviewed articles published prior to February 2019 in PubMed. The search was conducted using the following keywords: «eHealth», «eHealth definition», «eHealth advantages», «eHealth problems» and «eHealth future». Of the numerous articles retrieved we analysed the titles, their abstracts, the language and if we could access full-text versions. We were able to select one hundred articles that included contents related to our objectives. RESULTS Of the one hundred articles reviewed, twenty studies contained eHealth definitions. The more mentioned aspects, within the definitions, were the information and communication technologies, health care delivery, the Internet and the importance of being user centred. Twenty nine articles mentioned advantages. The literature showed that the main advantage was that eHealth improved the accessibility to health information, followed by the chance of tailoring the health interventions. Other themes that emerged were user empowerment or the opportunity to reduce costs. Seventy three articles mentioned eHealth disadvantages. The most quoted was the poor quality of the information available, followed by the user’s difficulty to properly evaluate that quality, the existence of technical or not easily understandable information, or the risk of potential harms. Forty articles mentioned recommendations for future eHealth research. The most cited proposals were to improve user’s health and eHealth literacy, and health care providers implication in eHealth development and delivery. CONCLUSIONS Despite not finding consensus around the eHealth definition, we have found some features that can help to define eHealth as the delivery of user centred health care services through information and communication technologies, mainly Internet. The main advantages of using eHealth services are the improvement of accessibility to health, the opportunity to tailor the interventions, user empowerment and cost-effectiveness. Among the literature there are concerns about quality, information being intelligible, the digital divide or the risk of potential harms. Most mentioned guidelines for the future are to improve user’s health and eHealth literacy, health care providers implication in eHealth development and delivery, and the need of more research about the effectiveness of the eHealth interventions.

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Information and communication technologies in neonatal health

Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública ◽

10.26633/rpsp.2020.123 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 44 ◽

pp. 1

Author(s):

Pablo Duran ◽

Janine A. Sommer ◽

Paula Otero ◽

Mariana Daus ◽

Sonia Benitez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Information And Communication Technologies ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Health Informatics ◽

Scientific Evidence ◽

Newborn Care ◽

Communication Technologies ◽

Neonatal Health ◽

Care Providers ◽

Information And Communication

Objectives. To identify scientific evidence on the use and results of information and communication technologies for the improvement of neonatal health in general or specific health problems or interventions, and to describe the type of intervention and its results. Methods. A systematic review of the available evidence was performed. The search was carried out in peerreviewed journals between January 1, 2008 and April 30, 2018, in English and Spanish. The searched key terms were (health informatics OR telemedicine OR mHealth) AND (newborn OR newborn care OR neonatal care). Results. From a total of 305 articles initially identified, 10 articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The main domains of eHealth identified as applied to neonatal health were telemedicine (3 studies), eLearning (1 study) and mHealth (7 studies). Target population were health care providers or parents. The studies aimed at diagnosis, provision of health care and training, promoting adherence to interventions in parents or improving quality of care. Conclusions. The use of eHealth in general and specifically focused on neonatal health shows important possibilities for development and expansion, given the advances and present needs, and should be considered a key tool for the reduction of inequalities.

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Health Care Providers’ Knowledge of HPV Vaccination, Barriers, and Strategies in a State With Low HPV Vaccine Receipt: Mixed-Methods Study

JMIR Cancer ◽

10.2196/cancer.7345 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. e12 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Echo L Warner ◽

Qian Ding ◽

Lisa Pappas ◽

Julia Bodson ◽

Brynn Fowler ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Mixed Methods ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Hpv Vaccine ◽

Hpv Vaccination ◽

Mixed Methods Study ◽

Care Providers ◽

Vaccination Barriers

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Violence Against Health Care Providers: A Mixed-Methods Study from Karachi, Pakistan

Journal of Emergency Medicine ◽

10.1016/j.jemermed.2017.12.047 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 54 (4) ◽

pp. 558-566.e2 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Lubna Ansari Baig ◽

Shiraz Shaikh ◽

Maciej Polkowski ◽

Syeda Kausar Ali ◽

Seemin Jamali ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Mixed Methods ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Mixed Methods Study ◽

Care Providers

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Medical Students’ Experiences and Outcomes Using a Virtual Human Simulation to Improve Communication Skills: Mixed Methods Study (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.15459 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Timothy C Guetterman ◽

Rae Sakakibara ◽

Srikar Baireddy ◽

Frederick W Kron ◽

Mark W Scerbo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Mixed Methods ◽

Medical Students ◽

Communication Skills ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Mixed Methods Study ◽

Virtual Human ◽

Care Providers ◽

Empathic Communication ◽

Nonverbal Skills

BACKGROUND Attending to the wide range of communication behaviors that convey empathy is an important but often underemphasized concept to reduce errors in care, improve patient satisfaction, and improve cancer patient outcomes. A virtual human (VH)–based simulation, MPathic-VR, was developed to train health care providers in empathic communication with patients and in interprofessional settings and evaluated through a randomized controlled trial. OBJECTIVE This mixed methods study aimed to investigate the differential effects of a VH-based simulation developed to train health care providers in empathic patient-provider and interprofessional communication. METHODS We employed a mixed methods intervention design, involving a comparison of 2 quantitative measures—MPathic-VR–calculated scores and the objective structured clinical exam (OSCE) scores—with qualitative reflections by medical students about their experiences. This paper is a secondary, focused analysis of intervention arm data from the larger trial. Students at 3 medical schools in the United States (n=206) received simulation to improve empathic communication skills. We conducted analysis of variance, thematic text analysis, and merging mixed methods analysis. RESULTS OSCE scores were significantly improved for learners in the intervention group (mean 0.806, SD 0.201) compared with the control group (mean 0.752, SD 0.198; <italic>F</italic><sub>1,414</sub>=6.09; <italic>P</italic>=.01). Qualitative analysis revealed 3 major positive themes for the MPathic-VR group learners: gaining useful communication skills, learning awareness of nonverbal skills in addition to verbal skills, and feeling motivated to learn more about communication. Finally, the results of the mixed methods analysis indicated that most of the variation between high, middle, and lower performers was noted about nonverbal behaviors. Medium and high OSCE scorers most often commented on the importance of nonverbal communication. Themes of motivation to learn about communication were only present in middle and high scorers. CONCLUSIONS VHs are a promising strategy for improving empathic communication in health care. Higher performers seemed most engaged to learn, particularly nonverbal skills.

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Usability and patients attitudes after implantation of an innovative intracardiac micro-computer system for web-based real-time monitoring of heart failure (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.21055 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Giuseppe D´Ancona ◽

Monica Murero ◽

Sebastian Feickert ◽

Hilmi Kaplan ◽

Alper Oener ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heart Failure ◽

Health Care ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Technology Use ◽

Average Score ◽

Care Providers ◽

Cardiac Device ◽

Good Communication ◽

Empirical Survey

BACKGROUND Heart failure (HF) management guided by the measurement of intracardiac and pulmonary pressure values, obtained through innovative permanent intra-cardiac micro-sensors ("embodied"), has been recently proposed as a valid strategy to individualize treatment and anticipate hemodynamic destabilization, hoping to reduce patients´ hospitalization rate and optimize their quality of life. OBJECTIVE The present manuscript has focused on the analysis and interpretation of an empirical survey evaluating usability and patients’ attitudes towards a new permanent intra-cardiac device implanted to remotely monitor left intra-atrial pressures (V-LAP™, Vectorious Medical Technologies, Tel Aviv, Israel) of chronic HF patients. METHODS The V-LAP system is a miniaturized sensor implanted totally percutaneously across the inter-atrial septum. It communicates wirelessly with a "companion device" (a wearable belt) that is placed on the patient's chest at the time of acquisition /transmission of left heart pressure measurements. At first follow-up after implantation the patients and the health care providers were asked to fill out a questionnaire on the usability of the system, the ease in performing the various required tasks (data acquisition and transmission), and overall satisfaction. Replies to the questions were mainly given using a 5-point Likert scale (1: very poor, 2: poor, 3: average, 4: good, 5: excellent). RESULTS Use and acceptance of in-body technology from the first 8 patients implanted with the V-LAP technology worldwide have been analysed. No peri-procedural morbidity/mortality was observed. Before discharge, a tailored educational session was performed after the device implantation with the participation of patients and health care providers. A pre-determined appropriate measurement position for the external measuring unit (thoracic belt) was identified before discharge to guarantee, for each patient, good communication with the internal cardiac sensor and via wireless/RF communication. At the first follow-up, the overall comfort in technology use was 3.7±1.3 with 87.5 % (7/8) of patients succeeding in applying and operating the system independently. An average score of 3.5±1.4 points was given to the ease in positioning the external measuring belt in the pre-determined measurement position. All health care providers (8/8) were able to support patients with the technology. Health care providers’ average overall ease and comfort in operating the system was 3.8± 0.8 points with 4.1±0.8 points for the ease in positioning the thoracic belt in the appropriate measuring position. CONCLUSIONS Despite the gravity of their HF pathology and the complexity of their comorbid profile, patients are comfortable in using the V-LAP technology and, in the majority of cases they can correctly and consistently acquire and transmit hemodynamic data. The overall patient/care provider satisfaction with the V-LAP system seems to be high. Patients and respective health care providers have reported a score between average to good when assessing the ease in performing simple but crucial tasks such as wearing and fastening the thoracic belt and more specifically in consistently finding its appropriate position for ideal measurements. Improvements in the external thoracic belt design have been very recently introduced and will hopefully further optimize patients´ and health care providers´ acceptance and adoption of this technology. CLINICALTRIAL NCT03775161

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