Patients’ needs and perspectives for using mobile phone interventions to improve heart failure self-care: A qualitative study

Abstract

Aims: To explore heart failure patients’ needs and perspectives for using mobile health technology at home before developing a mobile phone-based heart failure self-care intervention. Design: A qualitative interview study. Methods: Purposive sampling was used to conduct semi-structured individual interviews with patients diagnosed with chronic heart failure (N = 20). Data were collected from November 2018 – May 2019. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim and data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results: The four themes that emerged from the interviews were as follows: ‘The demand for reliable and customized health information’, ‘Valuable features of mobile phone applications’, ‘Barriers to adopting mobile health service’, and ‘Expected benefits of using mobile health technology’. Participants in this study required personalized health-related information and reminders for improving their self-care behaviours. However, while difficulties in using mobile phone applications posed the main obstacle, users expected mobile health services to improve their overall quality of life. Conclusion: Despite mobile phone technology's potential benefits for effective self-care strategies at home, there were some obstacles such as security issues, application costs, and the need for user friendly designs and reliable information for patients’ optimal use. Impact: This study highlights that healthcare professionals should consider patients’ needs and preferences to promote the acceptability of mobile health technology. This study's findings can guide the future design and implementation of mobile health interventions for improving self-care among patients with heart failure. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd