Designing a Mission statement Mobile app for palliative care: an innovation project utilizing design-thinking...

Area of Science:

• Palliative Care
• Healthcare Innovation
• Digital Health

Background:

• Effective palliative care and advance care planning depend on understanding patient values and preferences.
• Despite benefits like cost savings and reduced distress, less than 33% of adults engage in advance care planning.
• Challenges in communicating patient values hinder high-quality palliative care delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a mobile application intervention addressing challenges in advance care planning.
• To improve the communication of patient values and preferences within palliative care.

Main Methods:

• A design-thinking methodology was employed to develop the mobile application.
• The application was designed in response to identified issues in palliative care literature.

Main Results:

• Communication of patient values between patients and providers is a significant barrier in palliative care.
• A mobile application prototype, "Mission Statement," was designed to overcome these communication barriers.

Conclusions:

• The "Mission Statement" app enables patients to articulate their values and preferences for their care team.
• Patients can dynamically update their mission statements and preferences throughout their palliative care journey.
• Design thinking is a valuable methodology for driving healthcare innovation and implementing research findings.