Introduction
Technology today modifies many aspects of healthcare, and one of them is patient education. Various technological achievements have been applied to improving learning outcomes in patients regarding their health and treatment.
Examples include the use of information systems that provide educational materials to patients through their own devices or devices in hospitals, audiovisual presentations for patients in clinical settings, and mobile applications that not only inform patients but also help them manage their health and connect them with healthcare providers. All this has become an important part of nurses’ work. To assess different developments in the area of patient education technology, relevant literature will be reviewed, an example will be presented, and personal experience will be shared.
Literature Review
Extensive academic attention has been paid to the use of technology-based patient education tools in various facilities providing healthcare. Particularly, the process of introducing and adopting such tools was explored. Anttila (2012) specifies three important stages of the process: the creation of technology, the adoption by nurses in their work, and the evaluation from practitioners who have been using given patient education technologies for a considerable amount of time.
At every stage, certain measures should be taken to ensure that the technology is effective. First of all, the author particularly stresses that nurses should participate in the process of developing such technologies to ensure the user-centeredness of tools that the nurses will use in their work. Second, extensive education should be provided to practitioners, and the benefits of using technology-based patient education should be explained because, without seeing the actual advantages, nurses will be unwilling to implement a technological tool and to see the advantages, they need to know how to use it to the fullest extent. Finally, nurses should provide not only evaluation but also feedback, i.e., advise what can be changed or improved in the technology they use.
Kaur, Singh, Singh, Sharda, and Aggarwal (2016) compared patient education outcomes in people awaiting surgery in a group that received a standard interview on anesthesia to the outcomes in a group that received an audiovisual presentation. The results of the double-blind, randomized study were that patients in the second group not only learned better but also experienced less stress and anxiety associated with surgery for which they were preparing.
This research showed that modern technologies should be used in patient education because they provide a wider range of tools to address patient perception than conventional methods such as patient education through conversations with healthcare providers or educational materials, such as brochures. A particularly important aspect of this higher effectiveness in affecting patients’ perception is that patient education technologies are often interactive, and they provide patients with the feeling of engagement and participation in healthcare services provided to them.
Example
An example of technology in the provision of patient education is the use of mobile applications that facilitate and coordinate the communication between patients and healthcare providers. Such an application can contain interactive anatomical models, process results of medical examinations, allow sharing health-related information with nurses and physicians, and present general information on particular aspects of health in which a patient may be interested (“Patient education,” 2017).
For example, a series of Decide Apps are a “[p]atient engagement platform for the point-of-care [that allows leveraging] interactive anatomical models to enhance patient understanding” (“Patient education,” 2017, para. 5). Most apps developed in this area are aimed at connecting patients and doctors; however, there are also apps that connect patients and nurses and allow patients to receive necessary advice or support from a nursing care provider.
The use of mobile applications helps address an important issue in patient education in general. Anttila (2012) points out that regular patient education sessions or scheduled distribution of educational materials may be frustrating for patients because the information they receive is “too basic or simplistic and therefore already known for patients” (p. 26).
With a patient education tool in their mobile device, however, patients can access relevant information and consult a practitioner directly, which is a faster, simpler, and more efficient way of providing patient education. Also, efficiency is explained by a higher level of emotional engagement. The use of visual models and sounds can help patients learn better (Kaur et al., 2016); therefore, mobile applications can be more effective in terms of patient education than conversations between healthcare providers and patients.
Personal Experience
My experience of encountering and familiarizing myself with a patient education technological tool occurred when I was asked by a colleague to evaluate and provide feedback on a tool that he had been asked to use in his work, and he referred to me for comments. The tool was a mobile application with a lot of medical information organized in sections. The reliability of information and practical health-related advice in the app did not give rise to doubt; I think the information had been taken from professional medical sources. However, I did not find the tool at all useful. I did not understand why patients should be asked to download and use an app that only provides them with access to information which they can easily access online in any search engine.
Another negative aspect was that the app consisted of virtually only text; there were very few pictures. A positive aspect of this experience, however, was that I had a chance to provide feedback to my colleague and express my thoughts on why I had found the app a poor example of using technology in patient education. I told my colleague that, with all the thoroughly designed interactive apps available at the market, this one was shamefully lacking any aspect of engaging a patient in healthcare provided to him or her.
Also, I did not think it facilitated proper understanding in patients of their diseases and treatment; some texts in the app were written in a scientific, highly specialized medical language, while making medical information simple and intelligible for any patients should be a major goal in the provision of patient education. For improvement, I recommended adding more visual materials and some elements of interactivity, e.g., the option to select a certain sentence and send it to a practitioner asking for clarification. However, I told my colleague that I still did not think the app would be a good example of patient education technology even after several improvements because I thought that the very concept of a mobile app that only provided textual health information was poor.
Conclusion
In developing and adopting patient education tools, it is necessary that nurses and other providers participate in the creation process and provide feedback as they use those tools. In implementing such tools, a crucial component is an interactivity because it promotes patient engagement and improves learning outcomes. My personal experience has confirmed that interactivity is what I expect from a good example of patient education technology.
References
Anttila, M. (2012). Adoption of information technology based patient education in psychiatric nursing. Web.
Kaur, H., Singh, G., Singh, A., Sharda, G., & Aggarwal, S. (2016). Evolving with modern technology: Impact of incorporating audiovisual aids in preanesthetic checkup clinics on patient education and anxiety. Anesthesia, Essays and Researches, 10(3), 502-507.
Patient education: Mobile device apps. (2017). Web.