Designing and testing telehealth interventions to improve outcomes for cardiovascular patients.

This article presents considerations for the design and testing of electronic interventions to improve recovery outcomes in cardiac patients. A brief description of the design and testing of 2 telehealth interventions for cardiac patients is provided: HeartCare and E-CHANGE. The HeartCare project was a randomized trial of a home support program for patients after coronary artery bypass graft surgery. E-CHANGE is an Internet-based home support program designed to increase lifestyle exercise after a cardiac event. Lessons learned from these 2 projects regarding design considerations, system use, effectiveness, and research challenges are discussed. Methods to promote the preservation of nursing values in electronic systems are described, as well nursing roles in the use of computer-assisted care.

Use of Appreciative Inquiry To Engage Parents as Codesigners of a Weight Management Intervention for Adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Focus groups are often used to involve families as codesigners of weight management interventions. Focus groups, however, are seldom designed to elicit families' strengths and positive experiences. The purpose of this study was to describe the use of the Appreciative Inquiry process in the conduct of focus groups to engage families in the design of a weight management intervention for adolescents. METHODS: A convenience sample of 44 parents (84% female; 82% minority) of adolescent children with a BMI ≥ 85th percentile, who were in the 6th-8th grade in a large urban school, participated in focus groups designed to elicit family-positive experiences and strengths regarding healthy living. A structured set of questions based on the Appreciative Inquiry process was used in the focus groups. Analyses consisted of the constant comparative method to generate themes. RESULTS: Parent-positive perceptions regarding their family's healthy living habits were reflected in five themes: (1) Having healthy children is a joy; (2) Becoming healthy is a process; (3) Engaging in healthy habits is a family affair; (4) Good health habits can be achieved despite obstacles; and (5) School, community, and social factors contribute to their family's health habits. Parents generated ideas to improve their families' health. CONCLUSIONS: Focus groups based on the Appreciative Inquiry process were found to be a useful approach to discover features that are important to low-income, urban-living parents to include in an adolescent weight management program. Recommendations for designing and conducting focus groups based on the Appreciative Inquiry process are provided.