Abstract
Appropriately instructing and guiding patients before and after surgery is essential for their successful recovery. In recent years, however, the development of the enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol has restricted the opportunity for healthcare professionals to spend time with their patients before and after surgery because of efficiency-driven, shortened hospital stay. Here, we embedded health education information of the perioperative period for gastrointestinal surgery on a WeChat-based mobile platform and evaluated the platform through medical staff evaluation, patient volunteer evaluation, and quantitative grading rubric. Clinicians and nurses believed that the mobile platform was attractively designed and easy to navigate, valuable, and adequate for patient health education. The content of health education was embedded into the WeChat-based mobile platform, thereby allowing patients and caregivers to access information at their own pace and enable repeat reading.
Highlights
Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) has rapidly developed worldwide, a survey conducted showed that many patients were not adequately prepared for surgery and did not have the relative knowledge of certain diseases, which made them anxious [1]. ese changes in clinical practice negatively affected the provision of information and postoperative instructions tailored to individual patients
Once the users completed the navigation, they were asked to complete a questionnaire consisting of 9 questions. Four of these questions focused on topics related to whether the patient had obtained adequate health education information about perioperative care for gastrointestinal surgery and whether the user learned new information from the content provided. e remaining five questions assessed whether the platform was familiar and convenient to use and whether it was simple enough for them to learn and navigate
Having the correct information accessible on a mobile phone was reported as a health coach or companion that promoted persistent engagement to improve health outcomes by all patients
Summary
Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) has rapidly developed worldwide, a survey conducted showed that many patients were not adequately prepared for surgery and did not have the relative knowledge of certain diseases, which made them anxious [1]. ese changes in clinical practice negatively affected the provision of information and postoperative instructions tailored to individual patients. It is necessary to gain more health education knowledge in a shorter time [3]. Patients will be unable to take full advantage of minimally invasive surgery until they receive timely, accurate, and accessible health information in the perioperative period. Users viewed the information flexibly without time and geographical constraints. E first research report of the use of WeChat platform showed that WeChat covered more than 94% of China’s smartphone users, with monthly active users reaching 1,082.5 million. 570 million users (93%) in China’s first-tier cities logged on to WeChat every day [7]. One-third of the users frequently received and read health information through WeChat [8]. We embedded health education information of the perioperative period for gastrointestinal surgery on a WeChat-based mobile platform, as described
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