Evaluation of an e-health platform for informal caregivers and health professionals: the case study of Help2Care

ABSTRACT

The Help2Care e-Health platform was developed in order to capacitate informal caregivers with digital, multimedia training materials. Health professionals select these materials according to the needs of the homebound patients under the supervision of these caregivers. In turn, caregiver can then use their smartphones to consult and apply the care procedures illustrated by these materials. In this paper, we present the results of performed usability tests for both web and mobile software applications of the Help2Care platform. These indicate an overall positive outcome, revealing less usable aspects such as the navigation flow in the web application and some design elements in the mobile application. Important written feedback was also collected, which we took into consideration to improve the software features of the platform.

KEYWORDS:

• digital platform
• learning
• mobile health
• e-health
• usability tests

Acknowledgments

This study is on behalf of the research group of the project Help2Care project: Help2care – Apoiar no autocuidado de utentes e cuidadores (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-23762). This work was supported and co-funded by the FEDER (European Regional Development Fund), under the Portugal 2020 Program, through COMPETE 2020 (Competitiveness and Internationalization Operational Program). We acknowledge the Polytechnic Institutes of Leiria, Santarém and Castelo Branco, the Hospital Center of Leiria, and all members, institutions and students involved in the project.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia FCT - Portugal, under the scope of the Help2Care project: Help2care – Apoiar no autocuidado de utentes e cuidadores (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-23762);Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia [POCI-01-0145-FEDER-23762]