An Empowerment-based Approach to Develop Innovative E-health Tools for Self-management
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Abstract
Background:
In current trend of development of disease management models, self-management plays a central role. E-health is viewed as an important technological means to achieve this. Yet, to be successful e-health tools need to take into accounts the principles and mechanisms of empowerment.
Objective:
To propose a conceptual approach to support the development of innovative e-health tools dedicated to self management.
Methods:
A set of seven relevant patient-centered mechanisms for implementing patient empowerment are specified: communication, information, education and health literacy, decision-making aids, self-care support, contact with fellow patients, and integrated care. For each mechanism, the skills of patients and professionals are elaborated and made explicit as determinants. A conceptual approach is derived from the determinants whereby the principles of patient empowerment are translated into practical design recommendations to develop innovative e-health-tools to support self-management. Further, as an illustration, we investigate the extent to which different existing e-health tools adhere to the skills of patients and professionals, or whether these tools require the users to acquire new skills.
Results:
A shift in the way to design e-health tools for self-management is suggested. Design of innovative e-health tools should be directed to support the duo empowerment mechanism/skill rather than only the mechanism (or none of two).
In particular, e-health tools should be dedicated to support the skills associated with the mechanisms of empowerment that users (patients or professionals) should have e.g. communication skills. This should be coupled with the skills needed to use the tool itself e.g. e-consult tool so that issues of interface human-computer interaction are also being addressed. The proposed approach can also be used as an evaluation means to assess whether an e-health tool account for these principles of empowerment and therefore has a better chance to be successfully implemented in practice.
Conclusions:
Skills of patients and of professionals play a crucial role in the development of innovative e-health tools. In the proposed approach, the skills associated with the mechanisms for patient empowerment are the basis to design new and successful e-health tools. An experimental investigation is a subsequent step needed to validate to this approach in the practice, for example by assessing the match between the determinants of the skills with the expected impacts of the self-management e-health tools.
In current trend of development of disease management models, self-management plays a central role. E-health is viewed as an important technological means to achieve this. Yet, to be successful e-health tools need to take into accounts the principles and mechanisms of empowerment.
Objective:
To propose a conceptual approach to support the development of innovative e-health tools dedicated to self management.
Methods:
A set of seven relevant patient-centered mechanisms for implementing patient empowerment are specified: communication, information, education and health literacy, decision-making aids, self-care support, contact with fellow patients, and integrated care. For each mechanism, the skills of patients and professionals are elaborated and made explicit as determinants. A conceptual approach is derived from the determinants whereby the principles of patient empowerment are translated into practical design recommendations to develop innovative e-health-tools to support self-management. Further, as an illustration, we investigate the extent to which different existing e-health tools adhere to the skills of patients and professionals, or whether these tools require the users to acquire new skills.
Results:
A shift in the way to design e-health tools for self-management is suggested. Design of innovative e-health tools should be directed to support the duo empowerment mechanism/skill rather than only the mechanism (or none of two).
In particular, e-health tools should be dedicated to support the skills associated with the mechanisms of empowerment that users (patients or professionals) should have e.g. communication skills. This should be coupled with the skills needed to use the tool itself e.g. e-consult tool so that issues of interface human-computer interaction are also being addressed. The proposed approach can also be used as an evaluation means to assess whether an e-health tool account for these principles of empowerment and therefore has a better chance to be successfully implemented in practice.
Conclusions:
Skills of patients and of professionals play a crucial role in the development of innovative e-health tools. In the proposed approach, the skills associated with the mechanisms for patient empowerment are the basis to design new and successful e-health tools. An experimental investigation is a subsequent step needed to validate to this approach in the practice, for example by assessing the match between the determinants of the skills with the expected impacts of the self-management e-health tools.
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