JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Chronically ill patients suffering from physical and cognitive disabilities, particularly stroke patients suffering from aphasia are often not involved in the design and evaluation processes. As a consequence, existing eHealth services often do not meet this group of patients which has resulted in a digital divide.

Objective:

The aim of this paper was to study the effectiveness and user satisfaction of an electronic care and rehabilitation planning tool from the perspective of stroke patients suffering from aphasia. This would help us to gain knowledge about how such a tool would need to be adapted for these patients, for further development of the tool.

Methods:

Usability tests were performed with nine post-discharge stroke patients suffering from aphasia. All tests were audio recorded and each test lasted about one hour. The data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. As the tool can be used by stroke patients either independently or with some support from their next-of-kin or care professionals, the research group decided to divide the participants into two groups. Group I did not receive any support during the tests and group II received some minor support from the moderator.

Results:

The results showed that the care and rehabilitation planning tool was not effective for stroke patients suffering from aphasia as many participants in group I did not accomplish the tasks successfully. Despite several usability problems and challenges in using the tool due to patients’ disabilities, the participants were positive towards using the tool and found it useful for their care and rehabilitation journey.

Conclusions:

There is a need to involve chronically ill patients more in the design and evaluation processes of health information systems and eHealth services. E-health services and health information systems designed for this group of patients should be more adaptable and flexible to provide the patients with appropriate functionalities and features; meet their needs and be useful and easy to use. In addition, the design and evaluation processes should be adapted considering the challenges for this patient group.