Dataset Information

Identification of Digital Health Priorities for Palliative Care Research: Modified Delphi Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Developments in digital health have the potential to transform the delivery of health and social care to help citizens manage their health. Currently, there is a lack of consensus about digital health research priorities in palliative care and a lack of theories about how these technologies might improve care outcomes. Therefore, it is important for health care leaders to identify innovations to ensure that an increasingly frail population has appropriate access to palliative care services. Consequently, it is important to articulate research priorities as the first step in determining how finite resources should be allocated to a field saturated with rapidly developing innovation.

Objective

The aim of this study is to identify research priority areas for digital health in palliative care.

Methods

We selected digital health trends, most relevant to palliative care, from a list of emerging trends reported by a leading institute of quantitative futurists. We conducted 2 rounds of the Delphi questionnaire, followed by a consensus meeting and public engagement workshop to establish a final consensus on research priorities for digital technology in palliative care. We used the views of public representatives to gain their perspectives on the agreed priorities.

Results

A total of 103 experts (representing 11 countries) participated in the first Delphi round. Of the 103 experts, 55 (53.3%) participated in the second round. The final consensus meetings were attended by 10.7% (11/103) of the experts. We identified 16 priority areas, which involved many applications of technologies, including care for patients and caregivers, self-management and reporting of diseases, education and training, communication, care coordination, and research methodology. We summarized the priority areas into eight topics: big data, mobile devices, telehealth and telemedicine, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, smart home, biotechnology, and digital legacy.

Conclusions

The priorities identified in this study represent a wide range of important emerging areas in the fields of digital health, personalized medicine, and data science. Human-centered design and robust governance systems should be considered in future research. It is important that the risks of using these technologies in palliative care are properly addressed to ensure that these tools are used meaningfully, wisely, and safely and do not cause unintentional harm.

SUBMITTER: Nwosu AC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9090235 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Identification of Digital Health Priorities for Palliative Care Research: Modified Delphi Study.

Nwosu Amara Callistus AC McGlinchey Tamsin T Sanders Justin J Stanley Sarah S Palfrey Jennifer J Lubbers Patrick P Chapman Laura L Finucane Anne A Mason Stephen S

JMIR aging 20220321 1

<h4>Background</h4>Developments in digital health have the potential to transform the delivery of health and social care to help citizens manage their health. Currently, there is a lack of consensus about digital health research priorities in palliative care and a lack of theories about how these technologies might improve care outcomes. Therefore, it is important for health care leaders to identify innovations to ensure that an increasingly frail population has appropriate access to palliative ...[more]

PMID: 35311674

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Dataset Information

Identification of Digital Health Priorities for Palliative Care Research: Modified Delphi Study.

Background

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Identification of Digital Health Priorities for Palliative Care Research: Modified Delphi Study.

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