JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Once considered incurable, pediatric cancers now have five-year survival rates up to 80%. Nevertheless, these patients remain at risk of morbidity and mortality from therapy-related complications. Thus, patient education and self-management strategies for promoting a healthy lifestyle are of tantamount importance for improving short- and long-term health outcomes. A Facebook-based “Healthy Teens for Soaam” program was developed to help improve knowledge and self-management practices of pediatric cancer patients related to their disease and treatment.

Objective:

The twofold purpose of this usability study was (1) to describe the process of developing an eight-week Facebook-based intervention program for pediatric cancer patients, and (2) to evaluate its usability to refine the program.

Methods:

Multiple phases and methods were employed to develop and evaluate the usability of the program. Study phases included: (1) needs assessment through focus group interviews and qualitative content analysis, (2) development of module content, (3) expert review and feedback on module content, (4) Facebook-based program development, (5) usability evaluation by heuristic evaluation, (6) usability evaluation by targeted end-user testing, and (7) modification and final version of the program. Usability of the final version was confirmed through feedback loops of these phases.

Results:

Based on six focus group sessions of teens with cancers, it was determined that they were interested in seeing stories of successful pediatric cancer cases and self-management after discharge, and preferred multimedia content over text. Each Facebook module was re-designed to include multimedia materials such as relevant video clips tailored for teenagers. Usability assessed by heuristic evaluation and user testing revealed several critical usability issues, which were then revised. Potential end-users tested the final program and perceived it to be usable and useful for pediatric cancer participants.

Conclusions:

To our knowledge, “Healthy Teens for Soaam” is the first Facebook-based intervention program for pediatric cancer patients. We actively worked with pediatric cancer participants and survivors to develop and improve this program, achieved good usability, and met the expressed needs and preferences of target end-users. This eight-week, Facebook-based, educational program for pediatric cancer patients, developed as the first step of an upcoming intervention study, will be useful for improving knowledge and self-management strategies of teens.