Ruth Alicia Lochan*, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden Pär Ã…gerfalk, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden Jonas Sjöström, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden Louise von Essen*, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden Track: Research Presentation Topic: Web 2.0 approaches for clinical practice, clinical research, quality monitoring Presentation Type: Poster presentation Submission Type: Single Presentation Last modified: 2013-09-25

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Background: The growing use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in health care has resulted in an increase in cross-disciplinary, inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary projects. In order for successful project outcomes developers of ICTs need to find ways to facilitate agreement between the dynamics of different stakeholders. While stakeholders’ objectives may differ, the ultimate desire is for a successful ICT implementation supporting novel and effective treatment protocols. Fostering cooperation and satisfying the requirements of different stakeholders is an ongoing challenge for ICT developers.

Objective: This paper presents an analytical approach to multidisciplinary work involving different stakeholders from the health care sector. It draws from the design experiences from the U-CARE Program at Uppsala University in Sweden. The overarching goal of the U-CARE Program is to provide psychosocial support to patients diagnosed with a somatic disease and their significant others, hopefully at a lower cost to the benefit of individuals and society. The idea of the U-CARE Program is to bridge scientific and organizational borders in order to offer a meeting place for researchers, clinicians, and students from different disciplinary backgrounds in a way that is unique within the field of healthcare sciences.

Research approach: Research is conducted in close collaboration between research groups within the fields of clinical psychology, information systems and economics at Uppsala University. Initial research activities are performed within the areas of oncology and cardiology in close collaboration with clinicians at Uppsala Akademiska Hospital. During 2010-2012, research studies were designed, and a software platform, the U-CARE Portal for psychosocial support was developed. The Portal will in the first step be applied within oncology and cardiology to provide support and psychological treatment to patients and significant others, starting spring 2013. The development of the Portal was conducted in close collaboration between IS researchers (who also acted as system analysts and software developers) and other stakeholders in the research context. The theoretical basis was drawn primarily from:
• Psychosocial support in general, and in particular experiences from internet-based psychosocial support and cognitive behavioral therapy
• Software Engineering, Interaction Design and Information Systems Development


Conclusion: We identified a set of research methods applicable in large-scale multidisciplinary research; together with design principles for successful implementation of online psychosocial support and psychological treatment.