Determinants of use and non-use of a web-based communication system in cerebral palsy care: evaluating the association between professionals' system use and their a priori expectancies and background

Abstract

BackgroundPreviously we described parents' and professionals' experiences with a web-based communication system in a 6-month pilot in three Dutch cerebral palsy care settings. We found that half of the participating professionals had not used the system, and of those who had used the system one third had used it only once. The present study aimed to evaluate whether professionals' system use was associated with their a priori expectancies and background.MethodsProfessionals who had not used the system (n = 54) were compared with professionals who had used the system more than once (n = 46) on the basis of their questionnaire responses before the pilot, their affiliation and the number of patients which they represented in the study. The questionnaire items comprised professionals' expectancies regarding the system's performance and ease of use, as well as the expected time availability and integration into daily care practice.ResultsOverall, users had higher a priori expectancies than non-users. System use was associated with expected ease of use (p = .046) and time availability (p = .005): 50% of the users (vs. 31% of the non-users) expected that the system would be easy to use and 93% of the users (vs. 72% of the non-users) expected that they would be able to reserve a time slot each week for responding to submitted questions. With respect to professionals' affiliation, system use was associated with professionals' institution (p = .003) and discipline (p = .001), with more (para-) medical professionals among users (93% vs. 63% among non-users), and more education professionals among non-users (37% vs. 7% among users). In addition, users represented more patients (mean 2, range 1-8) than non-users (mean 1.1, range 1-2) (p = .000).ConclusionsProfessionals' system use was associated with expected ease of use and time availability, professionals' affiliation and the number of represented patients, while no association was found with expected performance of the system. To achieve higher adoption rates in the future, it is important to further develop the technology by optimizing the system's ease of use and interoperability and including advanced consultation options. In addition, better identified end users should be more extensively informed about the system's possibilities through tailored education.

Exploring engagement in a virtual community of practice in pediatric rehabilitation: who are non-users, lurkers, and posters?

“…Barnett et al [28] investigated the abilities and interests of family practice trainees and trainers and found that participants in the earlier stages of their careers were more receptive to using online forums than those who were more experienced. Gulmann et al [29] compared the use and the background characteristics of users and non-users of a web-based platform designed for health providers managing children with cerebral palsy. In addition to finding that web-based platform users had fewer years working with this population, they also found that they tended to be from rural care regions, practiced in rehabilitation centres, and had a higher number of clients with the condition compared to non-users [29].…”

“…Gulmann et al [29] compared the use and the background characteristics of users and non-users of a web-based platform designed for health providers managing children with cerebral palsy. In addition to finding that web-based platform users had fewer years working with this population, they also found that they tended to be from rural care regions, practiced in rehabilitation centres, and had a higher number of clients with the condition compared to non-users [29]. Although our study highlighted similar trends (i.e., predominance of rural clinicians, working in rehabilitation settings, higher developmental coordination caseload composition), differences in these variables were not statistically significant between physiotherapists' users and non-users.…”