Together for the Future - Development of a Digital Website to Support Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Self-Management: A Qualitative Study

A feeling of not being alone - Patients' with COPD experiences of a group-based self-management education with a digital website: A qualitative study

AIM

To describe patients' with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) experiences of group-based self-management education with a digital website.

DESIGN

A qualitative approach with a phenomenologicalmethod. Patients participating in an earlier study, with self-experience of COPD as a special competence, were involved as research partners at the design of this study.

METHODS

Eleven individual and two group interviews with five participants in each group were conducted.

RESULTS

Group-based self-management education with a digital website supports learning. Sharing experiences with others in similar situations creates security and reduces the feeling of being alone. Based on questions and discussion in the group, and through self-reflection, general information is transformed into useful knowledge and understanding of one's own situation. COPD information on the website provides an opportunity to gain knowledge continuously based on needs that contributes to learning. This research has demonstrated that adapting learning activities to individual learning styles increases sustainability of learning. Sharing experiences reduces feelings of loneliness. It is therefore important to create spaces for sharing experiences and in-depth reflection that support learning over time.

A scoping review of co-creation practice in the development of non-pharmacological interventions for people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A health CASCADE study

BACKGROUND

Incorporating co-creation processes may improve the quality of outcome interventions. However, there is a lack of synthesis of co-creation practices in the development of Non-Pharmacological Interventions (NPIs) for people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), that could inform future co-creation practice and research for rigorously improving the quality of care.

OBJECTIVE

This scoping review aimed to examine the co-creation practice used when developing NPIs for people with COPD.

METHODS

This review followed Arksey and O'Malley scoping review framework and was reported according to the PRISMA-ScR framework. The search included PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, and Web of Science Core Collection. Studies reporting on the process and/or analysis of applying co-creation practice in developing NPIs for people with COPD were included.

RESULTS

13 articles complied with the inclusion criteria. Limited creative methods were reported in the studies. Facilitators described in the co-creation practices included administrative preparations, diversity of stakeholders, cultural considerations, employment of creative methods, creation of an appreciative environment, and digital assistance. Challenges around the physical limitations of patients, the absence of key stakeholder opinions, a prolonged process, recruitment, and digital illiteracy of co-creators were listed. Most of the studies did not report including implementation considerations as a discussion point in their co-creation workshops.

CONCLUSION

Evidence-based co-creation in COPD care is critical for guiding future practice and improving the quality of care delivered by NPIs. This review provides evidence for improving systematic and reproducible co-creation. Future research should focus on systematically planning, conducting, evaluating, and reporting co-creation practices in COPD care.

Participatory methods in a digital setting: experiences from the co-creation of an eHealth tool for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Background

Using participatory methods to engage end-users in the development and design of eHealth is important to understand and incorporate their needs and context. Within participatory research, recent social distancing practice has forced a transition to digital communication platforms, a setting that warrants deeper understanding. The aim of this study was to describe the experiences of, and evaluate a digital co-creation process for developing an eHealth tool for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Methods

The co-creation was guided by Participatory appreciative action and reflection, where a convenience sample (n = 17), including persons with COPD, health care professionals, relatives and a patient organization representative participated in six digital workshops. User instructions, technical equipment, and skilled support were provided if necessary. Workshops centred around different topics, with pre-recorded films, digital lectures and home assignments to up-skill participants. Process validity, experiences and ownership in the co-creation process were evaluated by repeated respondent validation, member checking, questionnaires and by assessing attendance. Data was analysed quantitatively or qualitatively as appropriate.

Results

The co-creators were in general satisfied with the digital format of the workshops. Mean attendance and perceived engagement in workshops was high and the experience described as enjoyable. Engagement was facilitated by up-skilling activities and discussions in small groups. Few had used digital communication previously, and feelings ranging from excitement to concern were expressed initially. Technical issues, mainly audio related, were resolved with support. At completion, skills using equipment and digital platform surpassed expectations. Few disadvantages with the digital format were identified, and advantages included reduced travel, time efficiency and reduced infection risk.

Conclusions

Experiences of digital co-creation were overwhelmingly positive, despite initial barriers related to computer naivety and use of digital equipment and platforms. The high level of satisfaction, engagement, attendance rates, and agreement between individual and group views suggests that a digital co-creation process is a feasible method. Several important success factors were identified, such as the provision of information and education on discussion topics in advance of workshops, as well as the smaller group discussions during workshops. The knowledge gained herein will be useful for future digital co-creation processes.