Exploring the Need for Mobile Application in Stroke Management by Informal Caregivers: A Qualitative Study

Muhammad Iqbal Haji Mukhti, Mohd Ismail Ibrahim (), Tengku Alina Tengku Ismail, Iliatha Papachristou Nadal, Sureshkumar Kamalakannan, Sanjay Kinra, Jafri Malin Abdullah and Kamarul Imran Musa
Additional contact information
Muhammad Iqbal Haji Mukhti: Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia
Mohd Ismail Ibrahim: Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia
Tengku Alina Tengku Ismail: Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia
Iliatha Papachristou Nadal: Division of Care in Long Term Conditions, King’s College London, London SE1 8WA, UK
Sureshkumar Kamalakannan: Department of Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK
Sanjay Kinra: Department of Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK
Jafri Malin Abdullah: Department of Neurosciences, School of Medical Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia
Kamarul Imran Musa: Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 19, 1-15

Abstract: Background: Mobile health (mHealth) has been considered as a prominent concept in digital health and is widely used and easily accessible. Periodic follow-up visits, previously planned procedures, and rehabilitation services for stroke survivors have been cut down during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, in this qualitative study we aimed to explore the need for a mobile application in stroke management by informal caregivers. Methods: A phenomenological qualitative study was conducted from November 2020 to June 2021. Thirteen respondents were recruited from two public rehabilitation centers in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia. In-depth interviews were conducted. A comprehensive representation of perspectives from the respondents was achieved through purposive sampling. The interviews were conducted in the Kelantanese dialect, recorded, transcribed, and analyzed by using thematic analysis. Results: Thirteen participants were involved in the interviews. All of them agreed with the need for a mobile application in stroke management. They believed the future stroke application will help them to seek information, continuous stroke home care, and help in the welfare of caregivers and stroke patients. Conclusions: The current study revealed two themes with respective subthemes that were identified, namely, self-seeking for information and reasons for using a stroke mobile application in the future. This application helps in reducing healthcare costs, enhancing the rehabilitation process, facilitating patient engagement in decision making, and the continuous monitoring of patient health.

Keywords: mobile application; stroke management; informal caregivers; healthcare digitalization; rehabilitation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12959/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12959/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:12959-:d:937853

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().