Motivation

The aim of the patient education session prior to a medical intervention is to inform the patient in a comprehensible and appropriate manner about the nature, significance and consequences of the treatment. Standardized clarification sheets are used to support the 5-10 minute educational talk, which convey anatomical basics, type, scope and method of the procedure, as well as its benefits and harms. Nevertheless, many patients are not able to remember the treatment alternatives and risks after the information session. It could be shown that the use of augmented reality applications as a supplement to formal legal patient information leads to better understanding and stronger retention of the transmitted knowledge compared to 2D visualizations.

Aims

Within the CAWIP project, a smartphone app is to be developed and evaluated to successively supplement the education of colorectal cancer patients during the pre-, intra- and post-surgical phase. The app is intended to provide patient-specific information on the disease, its treatment and possible risks and to be used in the home environment for personal education. In the app, MRI or CT images will also be presented in a patient-friendly way and visualized in a suitable manner by projecting them onto the patient's own body.

The healthcare professionals have the ability to add anatomical and clinical explanations to the illustrations concerning the patient's specific situation and individual needs, and to make markings in analogy to the annotations on the disclosure forms in order to explain the entire process of the procedure. In addition, they can activate information material in the form of e.g. explanatory videos, help texts or training lessons for the specific needs of the patients. The app is intended to support patients in their communication with the treating physicians and to explain medical procedures in a patient-friendly way.

Approach

To develop the app as close as possible to the needs of the users, a qualitative study will be conducted to analyse the needs by means of focus groups with doctors and patients as well as their relatives using interview questions and mock-ups. Thus, the requirements for an app for patient education are exploratively collected to define the concept for the type of visualization and the transmission of information.

Funding

Funded by the research pool potential area mHealth Funding code: 2020-012