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Designing Remote Patient Monitoring Technologies for Post-operative Home Cancer Recovery: The Role of Reassurance

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Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2023 (INTERACT 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 14142))

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Abstract

While cancer patients are recovering in hospital after major surgery, they are continually monitored by clinical teams. However, once discharged, they spend their remaining recovery isolated at home with minimal contact with the clinical team. The first 30 days upon returning home after surgery are identified to be a critical and challenging period for patients not only emotionally, practically, and mentally, but also poses a real danger of further complications, readmission, and potentially surgical related death. Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) systems are extremely promising, allowing clinicians to care for and support patients remotely, however, although these technologies are mature, the level of adoption by the patients is still very low. To address this challenge, we focus on identifying and understanding the patients’ concerns and requirements when adopting a novel RPM technology. We conducted a series of iterative Patient Public Involvement workshops following a user-centred approach. We explored various scenarios based on prototypes and facilitated reflective discussions with cancer patients to identify existing barriers preventing them from adopting RPM technologies. The workshops revealed a wide range of concerns expressed by participants, categorised in five themes. However, lack of reassurance was identified as the central theme during the 30-day post-operative post-discharge period. In conclusion, reassurance proves to be central in engaging patients and making RPM technologies fit for purpose, potentially leading to elevated levels of adoption and improvement on health outcomes and quality of life.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) [EP/N509577/1]; the Computer Science Department in University College London (UCL); and the Wellcome/EPSRC Centre for Interventional and Surgical Sciences (WEISS) [203145Z/16/Z]. We also acknowledge The Urology Foundation and the Champniss Foundation for funding the application development and the clinical trial. Finally, we would like to thank all participants for their valuable and insightful input.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Medical Image Computing and Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK

    Constantinos Timinis, John Kelly, Manolis Mavrikis & Ivana Drobnjak

  2. University College London Interaction Centre, University College London, London, UK

    Jeremy Opie & Yvonne Rogers

  3. Wellcome/EPSRC Centre for Interventional and Surgical Sciences, University College London, London, UK

    Jeremy Opie, Simon Watt & Pramit Khetrapal

  4. Division of Surgery, University College London, London, UK

    Pramit Khetrapal

  5. Department of Urology, Royal Free Hospital, London, UK

    Pramit Khetrapal

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  1. Constantinos Timinis
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  2. Jeremy Opie
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  3. Simon Watt
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  4. Pramit Khetrapal
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Correspondence to Constantinos Timinis .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of West London, London, UK

    José Abdelnour Nocera

  2. Reykjavik University, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Marta Kristín Lárusdóttir

  3. University of York, York, UK

    Helen Petrie

  4. University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy

    Antonio Piccinno

  5. Université Côte d’Azur, Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France

    Marco Winckler

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Timinis, C. et al. (2023). Designing Remote Patient Monitoring Technologies for Post-operative Home Cancer Recovery: The Role of Reassurance. In: Abdelnour Nocera, J., Kristín Lárusdóttir, M., Petrie, H., Piccinno, A., Winckler, M. (eds) Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2023. INTERACT 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14142. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42280-5_38

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42280-5_38

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