TY - JOUR
T1 - An eHealth intervention for patients in rural areas: Preliminary findings from a pilot feasibility study
AU - Schrader, Geoff
AU - Bidargaddi, Niranjan
AU - Harris, Melanie
AU - Newman, Lareen
AU - Lynn, Sarah
AU - Paterson, Leigh
AU - Battersby, Malcolm
PY - 2014/6
Y1 - 2014/6
N2 - eHealth facilitation of chronic disease management has potential to increase engagement and effectiveness and extend access to care in rural areas. Objective: The objective of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility and acceptability of an eHealth system for the management of chronic conditions in a rural setting. Methods: We developed an online management program which incorporated content from the Flinders Chronic Condition Management Program (Flinders Program) and used an existing software platform (goACT), which is accessible by patients and health care workers using either Web-enabled mobile phone or Internet, enabling communication between patients and clinicians. We analyzed the impact of this eHealth system using qualitative and simple quantitative methods. Results: The eHealth system was piloted with 8 recently hospitalized patients from rural areas, average age 63 (SD 9) years, each with an average of 5 chronic conditions and high level of psychological distress with an average K10 score of 32.20 (SD 5.81). Study participants interacted with the eHealth system. The average number of logins to the eHealth system by the study participants was 26.4 (SD 23.5) over 29 weeks. The login activity was higher early in the week. Conclusions: The pilot demonstrated the feasibility of implementing and delivering a chronic disease management program using a Web-based patient-clinician application. A qualitative analysis revealed burden of illness and low levels of information technology literacy as barriers to patient engagement.
AB - eHealth facilitation of chronic disease management has potential to increase engagement and effectiveness and extend access to care in rural areas. Objective: The objective of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility and acceptability of an eHealth system for the management of chronic conditions in a rural setting. Methods: We developed an online management program which incorporated content from the Flinders Chronic Condition Management Program (Flinders Program) and used an existing software platform (goACT), which is accessible by patients and health care workers using either Web-enabled mobile phone or Internet, enabling communication between patients and clinicians. We analyzed the impact of this eHealth system using qualitative and simple quantitative methods. Results: The eHealth system was piloted with 8 recently hospitalized patients from rural areas, average age 63 (SD 9) years, each with an average of 5 chronic conditions and high level of psychological distress with an average K10 score of 32.20 (SD 5.81). Study participants interacted with the eHealth system. The average number of logins to the eHealth system by the study participants was 26.4 (SD 23.5) over 29 weeks. The login activity was higher early in the week. Conclusions: The pilot demonstrated the feasibility of implementing and delivering a chronic disease management program using a Web-based patient-clinician application. A qualitative analysis revealed burden of illness and low levels of information technology literacy as barriers to patient engagement.
KW - Chronic disease
KW - EHealth
KW - Rural health
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84906213116&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2196/resprot.2861
DO - 10.2196/resprot.2861
M3 - Article
VL - 3
SP - 1
EP - 10
JO - Journal of Medical Internet Research: Research Protocols
JF - Journal of Medical Internet Research: Research Protocols
SN - 1929-0748
IS - 2 e27
M1 - e27
ER -