JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

In Denmark, psoriasis patients on biological treatment have regular follow-ups, typically every three months. This may be a challenge for patients who live far away from the hospital. Mobile health (mHealth) can be a promising and reliable tool for the long-term management of psoriasis patients on biological treatment, because the disease course can be properly monitored. Despite the recent developments in mHealth, the full potential of teledermatology remains to be tapped by newer, more attractive forms of services, focused on patients’ needs.

Objective:

To design and develop an mHealth app to support psoriasis patients’ self-management using participatory design.

Methods:

Using Participatory design, we conducted one future workshop, four mock-up workshops and one prototype test with patients and healthcare professionals were conducted to co-design a prototype. The process was iterative to ensure that all stakeholders would have a say in the design and outcome; it enabled continuous revision of the prototype until an acceptable solution was agreed upon. Data were analyzed according to the plan, act, observe and reflect methodology of participatory design.

Results:

Health care professionals and patients emphasized the importance of a more patient-centered approach, focusing on communication and the maintenance of relationships. Patients perceived consultations to be impersonal and repetitive, and wanted the opportunity to contribute to the agenda when attending a consultation. Patients would also prefer not to have to attend in person every three months. Based on these findings, we designed an mHealth application that could both replace in-person visits and support patients at in-person visits. Video consultations, self-monitoring, and registration of patient-reported outcome data were all embedded in the application.

Conclusions:

Using participatory design facilitated mutual learning and democratic processes that gave the end-users significant influence over the solution. Despite the advantages of using participatory design in the development of mHealth solutions, organizational conditions may still represent a barrier to optimization of solutions.