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Pediatric Patient and Caregiver Preferences in the Development of a Mobile Health Application for Management of Surgical Colorectal Conditions

  • Mobile & Wireless Health
  • Published:
Journal of Medical Systems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Patient-centered frameworks are an effective way to engage patients in treatment plans, strengthen adherence behaviors, and improve disease outcomes. These frameworks can also be applied in the design of mobile technology disease management applications. However, the utilization of these frameworks is rare and frequently overlooked in existing colorectal mobile health (mHealth) applications. The purpose of this study was to utilize a patient-centered framework to facilitate the development of a valid, appropriate, and feasible mHealth tool for pediatric patients and their caregivers. To inform application design and production, in-depth interviews were conducted with pediatric patients and their caregivers to capture management experiences, application preferences, and barriers and facilitators to application use. Patient ages ranged from 3 to 16. Six caregivers and 2 adolescent patients participated in the interviews. Patients and caregivers reported various management styles and desired an application that is not only user-friendly and customizable, but also able to facilitate communication and information sharing with other patients, caregivers, and providers. Older patients also wanted the application to give them more independence in managing their disease. Employing patient-centered frameworks is context-specific, but holds much promise at the intersection of mobile technology and healthcare. By incorporating pediatric patient experiences and viewpoints, we identified important components for inclusion in a mHealth surgical colorectal disease management application. Patients and caregivers wanted a mHealth application that was unique to their needs and easy to use. They suggested that the application include treatment tracking, note taking, and provider communication features.

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Abbreviations

mHealth:

mobile health

PA:

physician assistant

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded, in part, by the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory University, and Georgia Institute of Technology research partnership through the QuickWins program. In addition, we thank Samantha Topper, Jeff Wilson, and Joseph Farrugia for continued development of the user interface and mHealth application.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Mehul V. Raval, Natalie Taylor, Kaitlin Piper, Mitali Thakore, Kathleen Hoff & Megan M. Durham

  2. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, 1405 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA

    Mehul V. Raval, Natalie Taylor, Kaitlin Piper, Mitali Thakore, Kathleen Hoff & Megan M. Durham

  3. Georgial Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Shane Owens

Authors
  1. Mehul V. Raval
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  2. Natalie Taylor
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  4. Mitali Thakore
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  7. Megan M. Durham
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mehul V. Raval.

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Funding

This study was funded intramurally by the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory University, and Georgia Institute of Technology research partnership through the QuickWins program.

Conflict of interest

Dr. Raval declares that he has no conflict of interest. Ms. Taylor declares that she has no conflict of interest. Ms. Piper declares that she has no conflict of interest. Ms. Thakore declares that she has no conflict of interest. Mrs. Hoff declares that he/she has no conflict of interest. Mr. Owens declares that he has no conflict of interest. Dr. Durham declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Human and animal rights

This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Mobile & Wireless Health.

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Raval, M.V., Taylor, N., Piper, K. et al. Pediatric Patient and Caregiver Preferences in the Development of a Mobile Health Application for Management of Surgical Colorectal Conditions. J Med Syst 41, 105 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-017-0750-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-017-0750-3

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