Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Jan 29, 2024
Date Accepted: Apr 18, 2024
Parents’ perceptions of their parenting journeys and ‘Parentbot - a Digital healthcare Assistant (PDA)’ intervention: A qualitative process evaluation
ABSTRACT
Background:
Parents experience many challenges during the perinatal period. Mobile application-based interventions and chatbots show promise in delivering healthcare support for parents during the perinatal period.
Objective:
This descriptive qualitative process evaluation study aimed to explore the perinatal experiences of parents in Singapore, as well as examine the user experiences of the mobile application-based intervention with an in-built chatbot entitled Parentbot – a Digital health Assistant (PDA).
Methods:
A total of 20 heterosexual English-speaking parents were recruited via purposive sampling from a single tertiary hospital in Singapore. The 20 parents (10 from the control group, and 10 from the intervention group) were also part of an ongoing randomized trial between November 2022 to August 2023. Semi-structured one-to-one interviews were conducted online via Zoom from February to June 2023. All interviews were conducted in English, audio-recorded, and transcribed verbatim. Data analysis was guided by Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis framework. The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) checklist was used to guide the reporting of data.
Results:
Three themes with 10 subthemes describing parents’ perceptions of their parenting journeys and their experiences with the PDA were identified. The main themes were: (1) New babies, new troubles, and new wonders, (2) What kept the parents going? and (3) Reshaping perinatal support for future parents.
Conclusions:
Overall, the PDA provided parents with informational, socioemotional, and psychological support and could be used to supplement the perinatal care provided for future parents. To optimize users’ experience with the PDA, the intervention could be equipped with a more sophisticated chatbot, more gamification features, and programmed to deliver personalized care to parents. Researchers and healthcare providers could also strive to promote more peer-to-peer interactions among users. The provision of continuous, holistic, and family-centered care by healthcare professionals could also be emphasized. Moreover, policy changes regarding maternity/paternity leave, availability of infant care centers, and flexible work arrangements could be further explored to promote healthy work-family balance for parents.
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