How digital health solutions align with the roles and functions that support hospital to home transitions for older adults: a rapid review study protocol

Occupational Therapists in Patient Navigation: A Scoping Review of the Literature

This review seeks to understand the literature on patient navigator programs (PNPs) that employ occupational therapists (OTs), including the role (conceptualization), functions (operationalization) of OTs who work as patient navigators (PNs) and the settings and populations they serve. This review also mapped the role of PNs to the 2021 Competencies for Occupational Therapists in Canada. Scoping review methodology by Arksey and O'Malley (2005) was employed. Data were analyzed thematically and numerically to identify frequent patterns. Ten articles were included. Within PNPs, OTs worked in hospitals and communities, but their role was rarely well-defined. Five competency domains (i.e., communication and collaboration, culture, equity and justice, excellence in practice, professional responsibility, and engagement with the profession) were evident in existing PNPs that included OTs. This review supports the increasing interest in OTs as PNs by demonstrating the alignment between the OT competencies and roles and functions of OTs working within PNPs.

Implications of immersive technologies in healthcare sector and its built environment

Objectives

This research focuses on how built environment experts can contribute to the MXR-enabled digital innovation as part of the multidisciplinary team effort to ensure post-pandemic resilience in healthcare built environment. The goal of this research is to help healthcare providers, built environment experts, and policy makers respectively: (1) Advocate the benefits of MXR for innovating health and social care; (2) Spark debate across networks of expertise to create health-promoting environment; and (3) Understand the overriding priorities in making effective pathways to the implementation of MXR.

Methods

To highlight the novelty of this research, the study relies on two qualitative methodologies: exploratory literature review and semi-structured interviews. Based on the evaluation of prior works and cross-national case studies, hypotheses are formulated from three arenas: (1) Cross-sectional Initiatives for Post-pandemic Resilience; (2) Interoperability and Usability of Next-gen Medicines; and (3) Metaverse and New Forms of Value in Future Healthcare Ecosystems. To verify those hypotheses, empirical findings are derived from in-depth interviews with nine key informants.

Results

The main findings are summarized under the following three themes: (1) Synergism between Architecture and Technology; (2) Patient Empowerment and Staff Support; and (3) Scalable Health and Wellbeing in Non-hospital and Therapeutic Settings. Firstly, both built environment and healthcare sectors can benefit from the various capabilities of MXR through cross-sectional initiatives, evidence-based practices, and participatory approaches. Secondly, a confluence of knowledge and methods of HCI and HBI can increase the interoperability and usability of MXR for the patient-centered and value-based healthcare models. Thirdly, the MXR-enabled technological regime will largely affect the new forms of value in healthcare premises by fostering more decentralized, preventive, and therapeutic characteristics in the future healthcare ecosystems.

Conclusion

Whether it's virtual or physical, our healthcare systems have placed great emphasis on the rigor of evidence-based approach linking health outcome to a clinical environment. Henceforth, built environment experts should seek closer ties with the MXR ecosystems for the co-production of scalable health and wellbeing in non-hospital and therapeutic settings. Ultimately, this is to improve resource efficiency in the healthcare sector while considering the transition of health resources towards in silico status by increasing the implementation of MXR.

Determinants of and Willingness to Use and Pay for Digital Health Technologies Among the Urban Elderly in Hangzhou, China

Purpose

In recent years, little research has been conducted on the willingness to use and pay for digital health technologies for elderly people. Thus, this study investigates the willingness to use and pay for digital health technologies and their influential factors among urban elderly in Hangzhou, China.

Methods

A structured questionnaire was completed by 639 older adults from 12 communities in Hangzhou. This paper presents a descriptive statistics analysis and performs a multivariate regression to identify the determinants of willingness to use and pay for digital health technologies among the elderly.

Results

The result shows the percentage of participants who chose very willing (3.6%) and partly willing (10%) to use was lower than those who were less unwilling (26.4%) and not willing (27.1%) to use. The percentage of participants who are unwilling (less unwilling,30.5%; not willing, 39.7%) to pay for digital health technology is even higher. The regression results show that age, working status, exercise and physical activity, medical insurance, income, life satisfaction and history of illness were significantly associated with willingness to use digital health technology among urban elderly. On the other hand, age, exercise status, income and history of illness were significantly associated with willingness to pay for digital health technologies among older adults.

Conclusion

The overall willingness to use and pay for digital health technologies are low among urban older people living in Hangzhou. Our results have important implications for digital health policy making. Practitioner and regulator should develop strategies to improve the supply of digital health technology services to meet different demands of the elderly with different age, working status, exercise and physical activity, medical insurance, income, life satisfaction and history of illness. And medical insurance would be an important instrument to facilitate digital health development.

The Women's Health Initiative cancer survivorship clinic incorporating electronic patient-reported outcomes: a study protocol for the Linking You to Support and Advice (LYSA) randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

The improved survival rate for many cancers in high-income countries demands a coordinated multidisciplinary approach to survivorship care and service provision to ensure optimal patient outcomes and quality of life. This study assesses the feasibility of introducing a Women's Health Initiative cancer survivorship clinic in Ireland.

METHODS

The trial https://spcare.bmj.com/content/9/2/209.short comprises an intervention and control arm. Two hundred participants will be recruited. Key eligibility (1) women with early-stage hormone receptor-positive breast or gynecologic cancer (cervix or endometrial), within 12 months of completion of primary curative therapy, and (2) access to the Internet. The complex intervention comprises a nurse-led clinic targeting symptom management through a trigger alert system, utilizing electronic patient-reported outcome (ePRO) assessments at baseline, and 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 months. It also includes input from a dietitian monitoring diet and nutritional status. The control group will receive their usual care pathway standard of care and attend the cancer survivorship clinic and complete ePRO assessments at the start and end of the study. The primary endpoint (feasibility) includes the proportion of enrolled participants who complete baseline and follow-up ePRO surveys and partake in health professional consultations after ePRO data triggers. Secondary endpoints include changes in cancer-related symptom scores assessed by ePROs, health-related Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ) scores, Appraisal Self-Care Agency-R scores, and adjuvant endocrine therapy medication adherence. A process evaluation will capture the experiences of participation in the study, and the healthcare costs will be examined as part of the economic analysis. Ethical approval was granted in December 2020, with accrual commencing in March 2021.

DISCUSSION

This protocol describes the implementation of a parallel arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) which examines the feasibility of delivering a Cancer Survivorship Clinic. The ePRO is an innovative symptom monitoring system which detects the treatment-related effects and provides individualized support for cancer survivors. The findings will provide direction for the implementation of future survivorship care.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT05035173 . Retrospectively registered on September 5, 2021.

A qualitative study of hospital and community providers’ experiences with digitalization to facilitate hospital-to-home transitions during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered substantial changes to the healthcare context, including the rapid adoption of digital health to facilitate hospital-to-home transitions. This study aimed to: i) explore the experiences of hospital and community providers with delivering transitional care during the COVID-19 pandemic; ii) understand how rapid digitalization in healthcare has helped or hindered hospital-to-home transitions during the COVID-19 pandemic; and, iii) explore expectations of which elements of technology use may be sustained post-pandemic.

Methods

Using a pragmatic qualitative descriptive approach, remote interviews with healthcare providers involved in hospital-to-home transitions in Ontario, Canada, were conducted. Interviews were analyzed using a team-based rapid qualitative analysis approach to generate timely results. Visual summary maps displaying key concepts/ideas were created for each interview and revised based on input from multiple team members. Maps that displayed similar concepts were then combined to create a final map, forming the themes and subthemes.

Results

Sixteen healthcare providers participated, of which 11 worked in a hospital, and five worked in a community setting. COVID-19 was reported to have profoundly impacted healthcare providers, patients, and their caregivers and influenced the communication processes. There were several noted opportunities for technology to support transitions.

Interpretation

Several challenges with technology use were highlighted, which could impact post-pandemic sustainability. However, the perceived opportunities for technology in supporting transitions indicate the need to investigate the optimal role of technology in the transition workflow.

Community-based culturally tailored education programmes for black adults with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension and stroke: a systematic review protocol of primary empirical studies

INTRODUCTION

Chronic conditions and stroke disproportionately affect black adults in communities all around the world partly due to patterns of systemic racism, disparities in care, and lack of resources. Culturally tailored programmes can potentially meet the needs of the communities they serve, including black adults who may experience reduced access to postacute services. To address unequal care received by black communities, a shift to community-based programmes that deliver culturally tailored programmes may give an alternative to a healthcare model which reinforces health inequities. The objectives of this review are to: (1) synthesise key programme characteristics and outcomes of culturally tailored community-based (CBCT) programmes that are designed to improve health outcomes in black adults with cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, or stroke and (2) identify which of the five categories of culturally appropriate programmes from Kreuter and colleagues have been used to implement CBCT programmes.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

This is a protocol for a systematic review that will search Medline, Embase and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature databases to identify studies of CBCT programmes for black adults with cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, or stroke between 2000 and 2021. Two reviewers will assess each study based on the inclusion criteria and any disagreements will be resolved by a third reviewer. Data will be extracted using a customised data extraction form to identify programme characteristics and the strategies used to develop culturally appropriate programmes. AMSTAR will be used to evaluate the articles included in the study. The aggregated data will be presented through textual descriptions of programme characteristics and outcomes.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

This systematic review protocol does not require ethics approval without the inclusion of human participants and will use studies that have previously obtained informed consent. The systematic review findings will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed journal and used to inform future research led by JF and HS.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

PROSPERO CRD42021245772.

Recommendations for the Design and Delivery of Transitions-Focused Digital Health Interventions: Rapid Review

Background

Older adults experience a high risk of adverse events during hospital-to-home transitions. Implementation barriers have prevented widespread clinical uptake of the various digital health technologies that aim to support hospital-to-home transitions.

Objective

To guide the development of a digital health intervention to support transitions from hospital to home (the Digital Bridge intervention), the specific objectives of this review were to describe the various roles and functions of health care providers supporting hospital-to-home transitions for older adults, allowing future technologies to be more targeted to support their work; describe the types of digital health interventions used to facilitate the transition from hospital to home for older adults and elucidate how these interventions support the roles and functions of providers; describe the lessons learned from the design and implementation of these interventions; and identify opportunities to improve the fit between technology and provider functions within the Digital Bridge intervention and other transition-focused digital health interventions.

Methods

This 2-phase rapid review involved a selective review of providers’ roles and their functions during hospital-to-home transitions (phase 1) and a structured literature review on digital health interventions used to support older adults’ hospital-to-home transitions (phase 2). During the analysis, the technology functions identified in phase 2 were linked to the provider roles and functions identified in phase 1.

Results

In phase 1, various provider roles were identified that facilitated hospital-to-home transitions, including navigation-specific roles and the roles of nurses and physicians. The key transition functions performed by providers were related to the 3 categories of continuity of care (ie, informational, management, and relational continuity). Phase 2, included articles (n=142) that reported digital health interventions targeting various medical conditions or groups. Most digital health interventions supported management continuity (eg, follow-up, assessment, and monitoring of patients’ status after hospital discharge), whereas informational and relational continuity were the least supported. The lessons learned from the interventions were categorized into technology- and research-related challenges and opportunities and informed several recommendations to guide the design of transition-focused digital health interventions.

Conclusions

This review highlights the need for Digital Bridge and other digital health interventions to align the design and delivery of digital health interventions with provider functions, design and test interventions with older adults, and examine multilevel outcomes.

International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)

RR2-10.1136/bmjopen-2020-045596