BMJ Open. 2025 Oct 9;15(10):e099034. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2025-099034.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To describe the usage patterns of patients and healthcare professionals (HCPs) using a person-centred telehealth and e-health intervention.
DESIGN: An exploratory, descriptive, observational study embedded in the «Person-centred care at a distance (PROTECT)» randomised controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03183817) as part of a process evaluation. Data on intervention use and time spent on the intervention were collected. Descriptive statistics were calculated.
SETTING: Participants were recruited from nine public primary healthcare facilities located in various areas of Gothenburg, Sweden.
PARTICIPANTS: 110 patients participating in the intervention group in the PROTECT trial were included. Participants were diagnosed with chronic heart failure (CHF, n=42), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, n=56) or both (n=12). They were 33-93 years old (mean 71 years).
PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: A secondary outcome report on resource use.
INTERVENTION: The 6-month-long intervention was performed as an add-on to standard care and comprised person-centred telephone support and access to a digital platform. Per-protocol use included co-creation of a health plan via the telephone and use of the digital platform at least once. Forms of use were tailored to the preferences and needs of the patients.
RESULTS: Most intervention activities took place in the first 3 months of the intervention. Most patients used a combination of phone and digital support, spending most of their time using the digital platform. Overall, patients and HCPs spent 6 and 2.5 hours/patient using the intervention, respectively. Of this time, 1.5 hours involved synchronous communication through phone calls, with health-plan calls averaging 77 min.
CONCLUSIONS: The intervention usage patterns of patients and HCPs differed. Despite HCPs being accessible when required, patients dedicated most of their time to self-care practices. Based on time distribution data, 15 full-time HCPs could potentially co-create, document and follow-up on health plans for 10 000 patients under study conditions.
TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03183817.
PMID:41067773 | DOI:10.1136/bmjopen-2025-099034
