Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Oct 28, 2022
Date Accepted: Apr 3, 2023
Adapting a telephone-based, dyadic self-management program to be delivered over the web: Methodology and usability testing.
ABSTRACT
Background:
The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the need for virtual behavioral interventions to support chronically ill individuals and their caregivers. Adapting existing programs to online delivery may be more efficient than creating new ones.
Objective:
To use a human-centered design approach to develop the Web-based Self-management Using Collaborative Coping EnhancEment in Diseases (Web-SUCCEED): a web-based self-guided version of a telephone-based, facilitated dyadic self-management support program for patients and their informal caregivers.
Methods:
Web-SUCCEED was iteratively developed in six steps: (1) ideation, i.e., determine the intervention content areas, (2) prototyping, i.e., develop the wireframes, illustrating the look and feel of the website, (3) prototype refinement via feedback from patient focus groups, (4) content development with input from a multidisciplinary team, (5) website design, and (6) usability testing. A diverse team of stakeholders including patients, caregivers, web-designers, psychologists, internists, and an epidemiologist provided input at each stage of development. Costs and FTEE required to develop web-SUCCEED were summarized.
Results:
Two focus groups (total n=13) of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) patients with chronic illnesses provided feedback on the aesthetics of the website prototype. Thirteen additional VA patients (n=6) and caregivers (n=7) completed usability testing in which they gave feedback on the website’s appearance, content, structure, and ease of navigation. In general feedback was favorable, although caregivers had lower ratings than patients. The software development cost approximately $100,000, excluding project personnel (Steps 1-3: $25,000; Steps 4-6 were $75,000).
Conclusions:
Adapting an existing, facilitated self-management support program for delivery via the web is feasible, and can deliver content at a distance without compromising user satisfaction. Input from a multidisciplinary team of experts and stakeholders can ensure program success. Those interested in adapting programs should have a realistic estimate of the budget and staffing requirements.
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.