Self-management support system for renal transplant patients

Abstract

Computer-based support for disease self-management has been proposed for chronic patients to stimulate early awareness of disease changes, facilitate patients’ autonomy, and reduce demands on health care resources. Renal transplant patients need lifelong care and can be viewed as chronically ill: they visit hospital regularly to monitor their blood level creatinine and blood pressure. They should also benefit from self-management as other chronic patients do. For the renal transplant patients, a self-management support system (SMSS) was designed and tested, with which they could conduct selfmeasuring regularly to check the renal function and get corresponding feedback. In the study, there were three feedback categories: (1) alright, and therefore patients did not have to take an extra action; (2) mild concern, and therefore patients were requested to measure again; and (3) concern, and therefore patients were advised to contact the hospital. To conduct self-management safely, it is important for the patients to follow the protocol and the system feedback. Therefore, to understand these patients’ selfmanagement behaviour, preferences, and adherence, this thesis investigates possible influencing factors for them to adhere to and accept the SMSS. The study entailed two related research lines: a lab study line that focused on the user interface design of a SMSS, and a clinical trial line that focused on patients’ acceptance and adherence of a SMSS…