An interactive ICT platform for early assessment and management of patient-reported concerns among older adults living in ordinary housing - development and feasibility.

Aims And Objectives: To develop and test feasibility and acceptability of an interactive ICT platform integrated in a tablet for collecting and managing patient-reported concerns of older adults in home care.

Background: Using different ICT applications, for example interactive tablets for self-assessment of health and health issues based on health monitoring as well as other somatic and psychiatric monitoring systems may improve quality of life, staff and patient communication and feelings of being reassured. The European Commission hypothesises that introduction of ICT applications to the older population will enable improved health. However, evidence-based and user-based applications are scarce.

Design: The design is underpinned by the Medical Research Council's complex intervention evaluation framework. A mixed-method approach was used combining interviews with older adults and healthcare professionals, and logged quantitative data.

Methods: In cooperation with a health management company, a platform operated by an interactive application for reporting and managing health-related problems in real time was developed. Eight older adults receiving home care were recruited to test feasibility. They were equipped with the application and reported three times weekly over four weeks, and afterwards interviewed about their experiences. Three nurses caring for them were interviewed. The logged data were extracted as a coded file.

Results: The older adults reported as instructed, in total 107 reports (Mean 13). The most frequent concerns were pain, fatigue and dizziness. The older adults experienced the application as meaningful with overall positive effects as well as potential benefits for the nurses involved.

Conclusions: The overall findings in this study indicated high feasibility among older adults using the ICT platform. The study's results support further development of the platform, as well as tests in full-scale studies and in other populations.

Relevance To Clinical Practice: An ICT platform increased the older adults' perception of involvement and facilitated communication between the patient and nurses.