Use of a Mobile App by Older People in an Integrated Care Setting of the CONNECARE Project

CONNECARE is a multi-country project funded by European HORIZON 2020 program to develop and implement a digitally enabled integrated care service. It is being implemented in two areas of Catalonia, Spain, in Groningen in the Netherlands and in Ashdod, Israel by Assuta Ashdod Hospital and Maccabi Healthcare Services. The primary digital tools being used by the patients are a mobile app accompanied by a wearable device. The app is interfaced with and interacts with a computer dashboard operated by health professionals. The patients are picked up by a Nurse Case managers during their hospital stay and are then followed by them post-discharge for three months using a combination of the app, phone calls and occasional face-to-face visits.
The research methodology is an implementation research with a matched control group from the Maccabi data base. The study will measure selected clinical status outcomes as well as healthcare utilization outcomes, but will focus predominantly on the evaluation of the implementation and the use of the mobile technology by the patients in the intervention groups.
The results will focus on the assessment of the use of the mobile technology by the patients, motivations and obstacles as well as patient satisfaction, its effects on patient – healthcare professional interaction, and the extent of contribution to the patient`s empowerment and self-management, quality of life and care integration.
The results of the analysis, together with the clinical and service utilization outcomes, will provide a better understanding of how to best use mobile technology with the elderly in a healthcare setting, addressing all of factors as well as implications for how to more appropriately design the technology for this population.