Codesigning an E-Health Intervention for Surgery Preparation and Recovery.

Surgery is a significant part of healthcare, but its demand is increasing, leading to challenges in managing patient care. Inefficient perioperative practices and traditional linear models contribute to adverse outcomes and patient anxiety. E-health interventions show promise in improving surgical care, but more research is needed. The purpose of this study was to involve patients and healthcare workers during the design phase of an e-health intervention that aims to support the perioperative care of elective surgery preparation and recovery. This study used an Information Systems Research Framework to guide collaborative codesign through semistructured interviews and cocreation workshops. Semistructured interviews collected insights on the perioperative journey and e-health needs from healthcare workers and consumers, resulting in the creation of a patient surgery journey map, experience map, and a stakeholder needs table. Collaborative work between consumers and healthcare workers in the cocreation workshops identified priority perioperative journey issues and proposed solutions, as well as prioritizing application software needs, guiding the development of the wireframe. The development of an e-health application aimed at supporting surgery preparation and recovery is a significant step toward improving patient engagement, satisfaction, and postsurgical health outcomes.

Virtual Engagement of Families in the Intensive Care Unit During COVID-19: A Descriptive Survey of Family Members of Patients and Health Care Workers.

Introduction: Traditional face-to-face family member visits in the intensive care unit (ICU) are challenged during the coronavirus disease pandemic with time-critical visiting of the ICU patient being impossible. Objective: This study aimed to explore reported experiences and satisfaction surrounding the use of technology for virtual visits and virtual family meetings in the ICU setting. Two groups were surveyed: (1) family members of critically ill patients in the ICU and (2) health care workers caring for these patients. Design: The study, conducted in the 36-bed ICU of a speciality metropolitan acute care facility in Australia, used a pragmatic post-test survey design. Data were analyzed descriptively. Results: Of health care worker subjects, 106 completed the survey and the majority of communication episodes favored virtual visits (79.2%, n = 84). Of family member subjects, 69 completed the survey, with the majority participating in virtual family meetings (40.6%, n = 28). Both groups indicated satisfaction with virtual communication. Conclusions: We found virtual communication was positively received.