CSCW – keep in touch with discharged patients

1. CSCW – keep in touch with discharged patients Olivia Kennedy 0720771 Eamonn Finn 0742643 Joey Flaherty 0651435 Steve Guinane 0722499

2. Introduction • The topic that we choose to study was to keep in touch with a discharged patient. • We came up with a scenario for our patient and applied the appropriate tools that we thought to be necessary.

3. Diabetes Scenario • In this scenario we all took roles. • I was the patient, Joey was the Doctor and Olivia and Steve were secondary patients.

4. Diabetes Scenario • A man was diagnosed with diabetes for the first time. He struggled to keep the disease in check. • When let out of hospital he feels that he is on his own. • He hopes that he can keep in touch with the doctors and nurse specialists. But the doctors and nurses are very busy and he doesn't get the amount of one to one contact that he feels he needs.

5. Diabetes Scenario • He tells the doctor how he feels and the doctor tells him about a range of ways that he can keep in touch with out actually seeing the doctor. • The patient has an iphone and on his iphone he has a glucose reader, he uses this to post up his glucose readings and invites the doctor to access them.

6. Diabetes Scenario

7. Diabetes Scenario • In this way the doctor can check the patients day to day progress with out the actual physical face to face meeting that takes time, and effort. • It also allows the doctor if needs be schedule an appointment for the patient if he sees that he/she is struggling with there glucose levels.

8. Diabetes Scenario • The doctor also lets the patient know of a twitter account that gives useful information to sufferers of diabetes.

9. Diabetes Scenario • In the third part of our scenario we had our patient suffering from a erratic glucose levels but was unaware of what was causing them. • The doctor was also unsure of what was causing them and with the permission of the patient posted up the relevant information onto a diabetes medical wiki. • A doctor from California replied to the posting and solved the problem for the doctor and his patient.

10. Twitter

11. Twitter • Twitter is a social networking and micro blogging service that enables users to send and read messages known as tweets. • Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters • It was designed by Jack Dorsey in 2006 and since then gained popularity worldwide.

12. How we used twitter in our scenario. • A twitter account was created specifically for this scenario. • The doctor informed the patient of a twitter account that gave support to people with diabetes. • In our scenario there was a group (our secondary patients) already using the twitter account to post up helpful information in relation to diabetes.

13. Twitter

14. How we used twitter in our scenario. • The patient found the information on the twitter account helpful and started following the tweets. • The patient then when they had a problem posted it up on the account and instantly got a helpful reply in return without having to go back to the doctor.

15. Problems seen with Twitter • Twitter is a public forum so information of a sensitive nature cant be shared. • Because its a public forum people can give falsified information.

16. Worth while using in the scenario: • Yes because the patient got support from other experienced sufferers of the disease. • Small queries are easily solved without a trip to the hospital.

17. Google Calendar

18. Google Calendar • Overview: • Google Calendar is a free time-management web based application offered by Google. • It became available on April 13th 2006 • The user must have a Google Account set up (free) • With Google calendar, the user can share their Google Calendar with friends, Set up reminders and Sync with desktop applications.

19. How we used Google Calendar In the scenario: • In the first scenario the patient has Diabetes, we thought that Google Calendar would be an easy way for the patient to post up Glucose readings on the calendar to share with his/her doctor. • A shared calendar with the doctor will also allow the doctor to set up appointments for the patient by putting in the relevant time/dates on the patient’s calendar.

20. How we used Google Calendar Within in the group: • We set deadlines for the project • Decided to meet up on certain days

24. Foreseeable Problems with Google Calendar • If there is an urgent appointment that the doctor needs to update on the calendar but the internet connection is unavailable for some time - this could cause problems • The doctor needs to make time to look/add to the calendar • Overall the calendar is reliable, even if the internet is unavailable, there is a read only Google Calendar available.

25. Was it worth while using in the scenario? • Yes because it is an easy, efficient way that allows the patient to keep the doctor updated with glucose measures and it also allows the doctor/nurse to set dates and appointments easily.

26. Was it worth while using in the group? • Yes because we were able to put in Google calendar when we could meet up for the project . • When somebody was offline they were able to come online to see when the next meeting was without having to get in contact with other group members.

27. Wiki Space

28. Wiki Space Overview: • Users can easily edit any page or create new pages within a wiki page website • Editing a wiki page is easy with the use of a toolbar at the top of the page • It is free to set up a wiki space

29. How we used wiki In the scenario: • The patients used the wiki to allow the doctor to communicate with other doctors about the patients erratic blood sugar levels

30. How we used wiki Within the group: • We used the wiki to collaborate our ideas for the scenario • Each member of the group were able to edit the wiki as we were coming up with new ideas.

33. Foreseeable Problems with wiki • By having the page on public, it is possible the page could be vandalised • Doctor would need spare time to edit the wiki

34. Was it worth while using it in the scenario? • Yes, because the doctors are able to get valuable information about their diabetes patients that they are having difficulty with • It allowed for doctor to doctor interaction about patients

35. Was it worth while using it in the group? • Yes, because it allowed each of us to easily edit the wiki and to come up with possible scenarios • It allowed us to log all our ideas and refer back to them during meetings.

36. Reflection

37. Reflection • The medical world could use these tools as a possible way to speed up outpatients recovery process as it can be applied to other diseases. • The patients can make a social connection with these tools, talking about similar problems with other patients. • Could lead to a reduction in hospital traffic, freeing up beds.

38. Reflection • The information could be easily falsified and the personal information of patients can not be secured. • Not all patients will have access to the internet. • Doctor/Patient relationship could deteriorate without one on one interaction.

39. Conclusion • All these collaborative tools allow the patient to be more connected to the hospital the doctors and other patients. • Allow the patient to feel more in control of the treatment of their disease.

40. Thanks for listening....Questions? 