JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Background:

Chronic heart failure has become a serious threat to the health of global population, and self-management is the key to treat chronic heart failure. The emergence of mHealth provides new ideas for self-management of chronic heart failure, in which informal caregiver play an important role. Current research has mainly studied the experience of using mHealth among chronic heart failure patients from a single perspective, and there is a lack of research from the dichotomous perspective.

Objective:

Objective:

The aim of this study was to explore the experience of mHealth use among chronic heart failure patients and their informal caregiver from a dichotomous perspective.

Methods:

Methods:

This is a qualitative study with a dyadic design, conducted semi-structured interviews among patients with chronic heart failure and their informal caregiver, and the method of data analysis was thematic analysis.

Results:

Results:

A total of 14 dyads of chronic heart failure patients and their informal caregiver participated in this study, resulting in the identification of four key themes related to the experience of mHealth use:(1) Coexistence of humanitarian interaction and traumatic experience (2) Supplement instead of replacement (3) Both agreement and disagreement as for the adopter of mHealth (4) For a better mHealth.

Conclusions:

Conclusion: This study reports that the experience of mHealth use among chronic heart failure patients and their informal caregivers are mixed, and it highlights the fact that mHealth has human touch and the importance of network security. This results regard mHealth as a complement to offline hospitals rather than a replacement. In the context of Chinese culture, we encourage patients to use mHealth by themselves, and their informal caregiver to provide help when necessary. In addition, we need to use mHealth carefully, and future mHealth designs should focus more on ease of use and be elderly-oriented.