Digital Health Equity and Tailored Health Care Service for People With Disability: User-Centered Design and Usability...

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Health Equity
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Digital health equity is a growing concern, with people with disabilities facing significant health management limitations.
• Patient-centered design using patient-generated health data (PGHD) is crucial for effective caregiver and provider communication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conceptualize, develop, and validate a digitally integrated healthcare service platform for individuals with disabilities, caregivers, and healthcare professionals.
• To leverage Internet of Things (IoT) devices and PGHD to enhance digital health equity.

Main Methods:

• A 5-stage methodology included collaborative reviews, user needs identification (personas, scenarios, UI sketches), app development (Daily Healthcare 2.0), heuristic evaluations, and a 2-month usability study.
• The study involved individuals with disabilities, caregivers, and healthcare professionals throughout the design and evaluation process.

Main Results:

• User feedback prioritized disability welfare information and educational content.
• Heuristic evaluations led to UI redesign for simplified navigation and integrated menus.
• The 2-month usability evaluation showed increased eHealth literacy, improved health IT usability and smartphone self-efficacy in older users, and higher overall satisfaction.

Conclusions:

• Incorporating diverse user needs from the design phase is vital for advancing digital health equity.
• Partnerships between health consumers and providers can reduce vulnerability, especially during crises.
• Sustained efforts in digital literacy and collaborative co-creation are essential for health and digital health equity.