Digital Health Technologies Enabling Partnerships in Chronic Care Management: Scoping Review

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Health Informatics
• Patient Engagement

Background:

• Growing patient desire for active participation in treatment decisions.
• Need for collaborative healthcare practices involving patients, families, caregivers, and communities.
• Increasing attention on digital health technologies for self-care and patient-provider collaboration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To map and assess studies on participatory health technologies for patient-professional partnerships in chronic care.
• To identify key features of these technologies that support collaboration.

Main Methods:

• Scoping review of scientific publications (2008-2020) from PubMed and Web of Science.
• Inclusion of peer-reviewed qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods studies.
• Thematic analysis of data using the PRISMA-ScR checklist.

Main Results:

• 32 studies (34 papers) included, with a slight increasing trend in participatory health technologies.
• Diabetes and cardiovascular diseases were the most common conditions studied.
• Six common features identified: patient-professional communication, self-monitoring, tailored self-care support, self-care education, care planning, and community forums.

Conclusions:

• Clarifying mutual expectations is vital when implementing participatory health technologies.
• Potential challenges arise from unclear roles and expectations between users.
• A knowledge gap exists in effectively using these technologies for chronic care partnerships.