Design and Evaluation of a Novel Mobile Phone Application to Improve Palliative Home-Care in Resource-Limited Settings
| dc.contributor.author | Harding, Richard | |
| dc.contributor.author | Namisango, Eve | |
| dc.contributor.author | Luyirika, Emmanuel | |
| dc.contributor.author | Chifamba, Dickson | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-06-26T07:50:28Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-06-26T07:50:28Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2021-07-21 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Mobile health (mHealth) provides an opportunity to use internet coverage in low- and middle-income countries to improve palliative care access and quality. This study aimed to design a mobile phone application (app) to enable or improve communication between family caregivers, community caregivers, and palliative care teams; to evaluate its acceptability, processes, and mechanisms of action; and to propose refinements. A codesign process entailed collaboration between a Project Advisory Group and collaborators in India, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. We then trained community and family caregivers to use an app to communicate patient-reported outcomes to their palliative care providers each week on a data dashboard. App activity was monitored, and qualitative in-depth interviews explored experience with the app and its mechanisms and impact. N = 149 caregivers participated and uploaded n = 837 assessments of patient-reported outcomes. These data were displayed to the palliative care team on an outcomes dashboard on n = 355 occasions. Qualitative data identified: 1) high acceptability and data usage; 2) improved understanding by team members of patient symptoms and concerns; 3) a need for better feedback to caregivers, for better prioritisation of patients according to need, for enhanced training and support to use the app, and for user-led recommendations for ongoing improvement. An outcomes-focused app and data dashboard are acceptable to caregivers and health-care professionals. They are beneficial in identifying, monitoring, and communicating patient outcomes and in allocating staff resource to those most in need. | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Harding, R., Carrasco, J. M., Serrano-Pons, J., Lemaire, J., Namisango, E., Luyirika, E., ... & Krakauer, E. L. (2021). Design and evaluation of a novel mobile phone application to improve palliative home-care in resource-limited settings. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 62(1), 1-9. | |
| dc.identifier.other | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.09.045 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://nru.uncst.go.ug/handle/123456789/11910 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Journal of Pain and Symptom Management | |
| dc.title | Design and Evaluation of a Novel Mobile Phone Application to Improve Palliative Home-Care in Resource-Limited Settings | |
| dc.type | Article |