JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Digital assistive technologies have the potential to counter the pressing need for adequate therapy options for Long-COVID patients by enabling the implementation of individual and independent rehabilitation programs. But, in order to develop digital devices closely aligned to the needs of this particular patient group, a close involvement of the target group is necessary.

Objective:

Participatory design approaches such as co-creation can be a solution to achieve usability and user acceptance. However, there are currently no set methods to implement co-creative development while incorporating patients. This paper asks which tasks and challenges arise from the involvement of patient groups and which lessons can be learned for the adequate involvement of Long-COVID patients.

Methods:

(1) A literature review based on a three-stage snowball process serves to identify the tasks and challenges emerging in the context of the co-creation of digital assistive devices and services with the focus of involving patient groups. (2) In an attempt to extract relevant findings and criteria from identified studies a qualitative analysis was conducted. (3) Using the method of theory adaptation this paper then presents a further development of existing concepts of co-creation for the context of Long-COVID patients.

Results:

Challenges of an active involvement of patients in co-creative development in healthcare include hierarchical barriers as well as differences in the levels of specific knowledge between professionals and patients. In case of Long-COVID, patients themselves are still inexperienced in dealing with their symptoms and hardly organized in established groups. This amplifies general hurdles and leads to questions of group identity, power structure and knowledge creation which are not sufficiently addressed by current methods of co-creation.

Conclusions:

The adaptation of transdisciplinary methods to co-creative development approaches focusing on collaborative and inclusive communication can address reoccurring challenges of actively integrating Long-COVID patients into development processes.