JMIR formative research
-
JMIR formative research · Oct 2020
A Web-Based, Mobile-Responsive Application to Screen Health Care Workers for COVID-19 Symptoms: Rapid Design, Deployment, and Usage.
As of July 17, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected over 14 million people worldwide, with over 3.68 million cases in the United States. As the number of COVID-19 cases increased in Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health mandated that all health care workers be screened for symptoms daily prior to entering any hospital or health care facility. We rapidly created a digital COVID-19 symptom screening tool to enable this screening for a large, academic, integrated health care delivery system, Partners HealthCare, in Boston, Massachusetts. ⋯ Using rapid, agile development, we quickly created and deployed a dedicated employee attestation application that gained widespread adoption and use within our health system. Further, we identified 1865 symptomatic employees who otherwise may have come to work, potentially putting others at risk. We share the story of our implementation, lessons learned, and source code (via GitHub) for other institutions who may want to implement similar solutions.
-
JMIR formative research · Aug 2020
Understanding the Experience of Cancer Pain From the Perspective of Patients and Family Caregivers to Inform Design of an In-Home Smart Health System: Multimethod Approach.
Inadequately managed pain is a serious problem for patients with cancer and those who care for them. Smart health systems can help with remote symptom monitoring and management, but they must be designed with meaningful end-user input. ⋯ Smart health systems to support cancer pain management should (1) account for the experience of both the patient and the caregiver, (2) prioritize passive monitoring of physiological and environmental variables to reduce burden, and (3) include functionality that can monitor and track medication intake and efficacy; wellness variables, such as sleep quality and quantity, physical activity, mood, and oral intake; and levels of social interaction and engagement. Systems must consider privacy and data sharing concerns and incorporate feasible strategies to capture and characterize rapid-onset symptoms.
-
JMIR formative research · Jul 2020
Self-Administered Skills-Based Virtual Reality Intervention for Chronic Pain: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study.
Patients with chronic pain often have limited access to comprehensive care that includes behavioral pain management strategies. Virtual reality (VR) is an immersive technology and emerging digital behavioral pain therapy with analgesic efficacy for acute pain. We found no scientific literature on skills-based VR behavioral programs for chronic pain populations. ⋯ High engagement and satisfaction combined with low levels of adverse effects support the feasibility and acceptability of at-home skills-based VR for chronic pain. A significant reduction in pain outcomes over the course of the 21-day treatment both within the VR group and compared with an audio-only version suggests that VR has the potential to provide enhanced treatment and greater improvement across a range of pain outcomes. These findings provide a foundation for future research on VR behavioral interventions for chronic pain.
-
JMIR formative research · Jun 2020
A Mind-Body Physical Activity Program for Chronic Pain With or Without a Digital Monitoring Device: Proof-of-Concept Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial.
Chronic pain is associated with poor physical and emotional functioning. Nonpharmacological interventions can help, but improvements are small and not sustained. Previous clinical trials do not follow recommendations to comprehensively target objectively measured and performance-based physical function in addition to self-reported physical function. ⋯ These preliminary findings support a fully powered efficacy trial of the two programs against an education control group. We present a model for successfully using the Initiative on the Methods, Measurement, and Pain Assessment in Clinical Trials criteria for a comprehensive assessment of physical function and following evidence-based models to maximize feasibility before formal efficacy testing.
-
JMIR formative research · Mar 2020
A Walking Intervention Supplemented With Mobile Health Technology in Low-Active Urban African American Women With Asthma: Proof-of-Concept Study.
Physical inactivity is associated with worse asthma outcomes. African American women experience disparities in both physical inactivity and asthma relative to their white counterparts. We conducted a modified evidence-based walking intervention supplemented with mobile health (mHealth) technologies to increase physical activity (PA). ⋯ The initial feasibility results of a 7-week community-based walking intervention tailored for African American women with asthma and supplemented with mHealth tools are promising. Modifications to recruitment, retention, and the intervention itself are needed. These findings support the need to conduct a further modified pilot trial to collect additional data on feasibility and estimate the efficacy of the intervention on asthma and PA outcomes.