Proof of Concept for a Digital Framework to Support a Shared Agenda at Surgical Ward Rounds: Participatory Design Study.

Background: Surgical ward rounds (SWRs) are often unstructured and deprioritized compared to traditional surgical tasks, leading to limited interdisciplinary collaboration, unprepared patients, and low family attendance.

Objective: This study aimed to co-design and develop a digital framework to facilitate a shared agenda for SWRs, ensuring all core participants can attend and participate effectively.

Methods: Participatory Design (PD) methodologies were employed, utilizing user-engaging activities within an iterative process. A multidisciplinary team, including patients, relatives, healthcare providers, technology designers, and researchers, collaborated in workshops and testing to translate user needs into prototypes of technologies consisting of the digital framework.

Results: A logistics system was developed for nurses to pre-book the SWRs in designated time slots, enabling them to prepare relevant data and partake in the dialogue with patients. Additionally, a mobile health application (mHealth app) displayed the schedule for patients and relatives, helping them to participate and prepare questions in advance. Multiple iterations ensured that the digital framework met user needs and was feasible for clinical practice.

Conclusions: Our findings underscore the importance of collaboration between users and technology designers in developing digital health technologies. Engaging the users helped identify technical and organizational constraints that needed to be addressed to integrate the digital framework into clinical settings.