6 Using mobile app to empower care and self-management in LVAD patients

Self-management (SM) of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is a complex process and arduous to many patients. Thus, support from a family caregiver and a nurse is required to achieve the ultimate treatment goal for implanting an LVAD – to increase quantity and quality of life.1 A mobile phone application (VAD Care App version 1.0®) was invented to simplify the LVAD SM process and empower patient’s engagement in SM.2 The purposes of this presentation are the following: (1) illustrate the main components of the app; (2) describe the app-directed and nurse-supported LVAD SM intervention; and (3) present the results of the feasibility study as well as preliminary results of an ongoing pilot clinical trial. Future studies, app designs (versions 2.0 and 3.0), and implications for advancing the LVAD SM science will be discussed.3 Conference participants are encouraged to engage in a dialogue about the applicability of the app to other implantable devices (e.g. cardiac resynchronisation therapy) and complex conditions (e.g. pulmonary hypertension) within the context of healthcare delivery and culture in Asia. References Casida JM, Wu HS, Abshire M, Ghosh B, Yang JJ. Cognition and adherence are self-management factors predicting the quality of life of adults with a left ventricular assist device. J Heart Lung Transplant 2017;36:325–330. Casida JM, Aikens JE, Craddock H, Aldrich MW, Pagani FD. Development and feasibility of self-management application in left-ventricular assist devices. ASAIO J 2018;64:159–167. Casida J, Aikens J, Pagani F, et al. Advancing the science of self-management in adults with long-term left ventricular assist devices. Artif Organs 2018. doi:10.1111/aor.13113 [Epub ahead of print].