START DATE AND DURATION: October 2021- October 2025
Summary
The use of Digital Health Interventions (DHIs) can benefit patient care, but effective uptake and engagement (U&E) are crucial. This research explores and evaluates the role of healthcare staff in facilitating patient U&E with DHIs, addressing a gap in the literature on their role in digital health implementation.
A systematic review evaluates how healthcare staff may facilitate patient U&E with DHIs. A mixed-methods approach follows: (1) qualitative interviews with healthcare staff on their use of DHIs and views on effectiveness, and (2) a quantitative study comparing patient U&E across clinics and assessing the relationship between staff involvement and patient U&E rates.
The findings of this research could provide recommendations for healthcare services, healthcare staff, and digital health developers on effective ways to assist with patient U&E with DHIs. This could improve patient experience with DHIs, increase accessibility to DHI use, and build an understanding of the needs of healthcare staff to ensure effective implementation of DHI use with patients.