Evaluating the SEND eHealth Application to Improve Patients' Secure Message Writing

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Digital Health
• Health Communication

Background:

• Secure messaging (SM) is vital for cancer patient-clinician communication and symptom management.
• Patients often need guidance on effectively phrasing messages for optimal communication.
• Existing communication tools may not adequately address patient needs for message clarity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the engagement, satisfaction, acceptability, and appropriateness of the SEND application.
• To assess the impact of a user-centered, web-based tool on patient-clinician communication in cancer care.
• To determine if the SEND application empowers patients with effective message-writing techniques.

Main Methods:

• A user-centered, web-based application (SEND) was developed with interactive tutorials and quizzes.
• 101 patients with various cancer diagnoses used the SEND application.
• Post-use surveys assessed patient experience regarding engagement, satisfaction, acceptability, and appropriateness.

Main Results:

• 65% of patients engaged with the SEND application, with an average interaction time of 15 minutes.
• High levels of satisfaction (90.4%), acceptability (85.4%), and appropriateness (88.6%) were reported.
• No significant differences in outcomes were observed across demographic groups (age, sex, race, education).

Conclusions:

• The SEND application shows potential as an eHealth intervention to enhance patient-clinician communication in oncology.
• Empowering patients with effective messaging skills via SEND can improve the quality of secure messaging.
• Improved SM quality may lead to quicker responses and more patient-centered care in cancer treatment.