Sjouke Liem*, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands Christine Dedding, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands Lex Winkler, Stichting Artsen voor Kinderen, Amsterdam, Netherlands Ria Reis, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands Track: Research Presentation Topic: The nature and dynamics of social networks in health Presentation Type: Oral presentation Submission Type: Single Presentation Building: MECC Room: 0.9 Athens Date: 2010-11-29 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM Last modified: 2010-10-31

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Background: The “Cyber Clinic”, a project created by the foundation Artsen voor Kinderen is an interactive, multidisciplinary website developed by adults for children with a chronic disease in the Netherlands. Its goal is to provide medical information in a new and exciting way and to provide the opportunity to ask questions to a panel of experts. Currently, five Cyber Clinics exist for children with: celiac disease, congenital heart disease, diabetes, cystic fibrosis and inflammatory bowel disorder. In a joint research project between Artsen voor Kinderen and the University of Amsterdam we evaluated the Diabetes Cyber Clinic and the Asthma Cyber Clinic.
Objective: In the first stage, a pilot study among children with diabetes between the ages of 9-14 was conducted. Its main goal was to explore the needs for sharing knowledge and personal experiences through interaction with peers and discovering the pros and cons of this e-health site from a child perspective. Results from the diabetes Cyber Clinic study demonstrated that 1) children feel more need for sharing knowledge and experiences with peers, while the Cyber Clinic facilitated mainly interaction with adult-experts. 2) the Cyber Clinic is an insufficient facilitator of social interaction and relies too much on ‘the old model’ of passive information transmission. When asked, parents and medical professionals show ambiguity in promoting peer interaction; they consider it important but also believe risks are involved. Currently, an improved Cyber Clinic is being evaluated among children with asthma, parents and medical professionals. Improvements include a better connection with the target group, a more child-centered environment and more emphasis on sharing personal and daily experiences with peers. Its focus is to study the effects of the Cyber Clinic for patient participation in the clinic and the effects of visiting a Cyber Clinic on the quality of life for children.
Method: currently 150 children, 75 parents and 75 medical professionals are being recruited to complete two questionnaires with a three month interval between administrations.
Results and Conclusions: At the end of September 2010 all data will have been collected to be analyzed. Therefore, results and conclusions are not yet available. In November we will present the results of this study and discuss the needs of children with diabetes and asthma, the effects of the Cyber Clinic on patient participation and on quality of life, the obstacles, and the challenges for the (near) future.