The Penn State Heart Assistant: A pilot study of a web-based intervention to improve self-care of heart failure patients

Abstract

The Penn State Heart Assistant, a web-based, tablet computer-accessed, secure application was developed to conduct a proof of concept test, targeting patient self-care activities of heart failure patients including daily medication adherence, weight monitoring, and aerobic activity. Patients (n = 12) used the tablet computer-accessed program for 30 days-recording their information and viewing a short educational video. Linear random coefficient models assessed the relationship between weight and time and exercise and time. Good medication adherence (66% reporting taking 75% of prescribed medications) was reported. Group compliance over 30 days for weight and exercise was 84 percent. No persistent weight gain over 30 days, and some indication of weight loss (slope of weight vs time was negative (-0.17; p value = 0.002)), as well as increased exercise (slope of exercise vs time was positive (0.08; p value = 0.04)) was observed. This study suggests that mobile technology is feasible, acceptable, and has potential for cost-effective opportunities to manage heart failure patients safely at home.

Fertility patients’ use and perceptions of online fertility educational material

“…A review of hospitalbased video interventions demonstrated that 61% reported a positive effect of educational videos on patient outcomes compared with control groups using 3 types of video styles: animated presentations, professionals in practice, and patient narratives [29]. Some studies have shown that online educational tools can actually improve disease outcomes such as reduced inhaler misuse in asthma patients, improved medication adherence and weight loss in heart failure patients, and higher rates of satisfactory bowel preparation for colonoscopy patients [24,[30][31][32]. Patient educational videos can also reduce patient anxiety about medical treatments and help patients to feel better prepared for medical treatment such as in prostate cancer radiotherapy [33,34].…”

eHealth Delivery of Educational Content Using Selected Visual Methods to Improve Health Literacy on Lifestyle-Related Diseases: Literature Review

“…Two studies conducted randomized controlled trials (RCTs) [27,39], of which 1 [27] described the study protocol only. In addition, 8 studies were pilot studies [28][29][30][31][32][40][41][42], 6 studies were feasibility studies [33][34][35][36][37][38], 1 was an intervention study [43], and 1 was a cohort study using qualitative and quantitative methods [44]. As shown in Multimedia Appendix 3, primary outcomes were measured and the results were reported in 1 RCT [39], 1 intervention study [43], 5 pilot studies [30,31,[40][41][42], and 2 feasibility studies [34,36].…”

“…In addition, 8 studies were pilot studies [28][29][30][31][32][40][41][42], 6 studies were feasibility studies [33][34][35][36][37][38], 1 was an intervention study [43], and 1 was a cohort study using qualitative and quantitative methods [44]. As shown in Multimedia Appendix 3, primary outcomes were measured and the results were reported in 1 RCT [39], 1 intervention study [43], 5 pilot studies [30,31,[40][41][42], and 2 feasibility studies [34,36]. A total of 7 studies [30,34,[39][40][41][42][43] investigated the results statistically, of which 5 studies [31,34,39,40,43] reported significant positive effects on health literacy [34,39,43], and health-related measures (eg, physical activity, body weight) [30,41].…”

Moving towards Sustainable Electronic Health Applications

“…In a systematic review of co-designed mHealth interventions, studies included patients in the development stages, but none assessed the intervention's effectiveness afterwards [31]. Conversely, in another study, users evaluated the interventions usability, but were not involved in its design [32]. The lack of fluidity between mHealth development and user input reduces end-user empowerment and overall app usability.…”