My hip journey: A qualitative study of patients’ experiences of an eHealth program for patient preparation and recovery from hip replacement surgery

Abstract

Aim and objective: To explore patient experiences, perceived benefits and suggestions of an eHealth program for pre- and post-operative education for total hip arthroplasty. Background: eHealth programs for surgical patients can facilitate the delivery of information, provide individualised rehabilitation plans and enable communication with health professionals to promote overall patient recovery. Design: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted following the COREQ guidelines. A convenience sample of nine patients who had total hip arthroplasty and used the My Hip Journey eHealth program were recruited and participated in individual semi-structured telephone interviews. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Results: The participant group were aged between 53 and 70 years. The results are described in three overarching themes and sub-themes: (1) Supported surgical journey—how the My Hip Journey eHealth program supported them in their preparation and recovery from their surgery, and how the program provided information and encouraged engagement; (2) Motivated recovery—how patients found the program motivational, facilitated their self-management and enabled communication with the healthcare team if they had any concern; and (3) Functionality—how the program related to ease of use, its interactivity with the patient and suggestions for future use. Conclusions: The patients reported that using the eHealth program for pre- and post-operative education was helpful to their overall surgical experience and recovery. It was found to engage patients in their care, enabled self-management, encouraged communication with health professionals and motivated them with their recovery. These findings identify the potential for eHealth programs to support patients in the preparation and post-operative stages, and in their post-discharge self-care for other surgical and orthopaedic journeys. Relevance to clinical practice: Patient experiences of eHealth education can inform nurses of the benefits of eHealth and the development of future eHealth education programs.

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

6-1-2022

Volume

31

Issue

11-12

PubMed ID

34427362

Publication Title

Journal of Clinical Nursing

Publisher

Wiley

School

School of Nursing and Midwifery / Centre for Research in Aged Care

RAS ID

36676

Comments

Saunders, R., Seaman, K., Emery, L., Crompton, D., Lynch, C., Penjor, D., & Sagar, S. (2022). My hip journey: A qualitative study of patients’ experiences of an eHealth program for patient preparation and recovery from hip replacement surgery. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 31(11-12), 1580-1587. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.16011

Copyright

subscription content

First Page

1580

Last Page

1587

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1111/jocn.16011

Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1111/jocn.16011