Interactive-Technology Health Behavior Promotion Program for Heart Failure Patients

In a paper just published in Journal of Medical Internet Research -Research Protocols- (with Rony Calo as first author), we describe a pilot study to explore the use of interactive technology to promote heart failure (HF) patients’ engagement in physical activity (PA) and adherence to medication. This IT-based interventions, called Motivate4Change, is a program for delivery in the hospital setting, and the development was guided by the Intervention Mapping protocol. The study is a collaboration between researchers from the EMGO Institute for Health & Care Research and Philips Research.

We used observations at a hospital in the United Kingdom and semistructured interviews with hospitalized HF patients and HF nurses following their completion of Motivate4Change. Results demonstrated that patient needs included empathic and contextual content, interactive learning, and support from others, including nurses and family members. The nurse needs included integration in current educational practices and finding opportunities for provision of the program.