Exploring Acceptance and Outcomes of an Online-based Self-management Support System in Chronic Illness

In Switzerland, SENior health ACAdemy (SENACA, www.senaca.ch) has been developed by the European Medical Network EMN. SENACA is a structured self-management support system with several interacting components, combining tele-monitoring devices and a solution for personalised health plans. This online support system's usability, the behaviour change techniques it builds on, modes of delivery and its effects on health-related behaviour, clinical and Quality-of-Life outcomes will be established in a larger group of end-users. Testing the usability of SENACA and practical effectiveness of this intervention is the goal of this multi-national project USECARE (www.usecare.eu). SENACA will be implemented in two countries (Israel and Norway ) via field test with community-dwelling older adults living with chronic conditions (i.e. diabetes, COPD, chronic heart failure) and their informal caregivers. Key element of USECARE is a field-test including a study based upon pre-experimental design with three time point measurements and a pre-usability round. Multiple methods will be used to evaluate the usability and to observe clinical and process parameters before, during and after the implementation of the enhanced SENACA prototype. All of the results combined will provide an insight into the end-user experience, usage pattern, usability perception and potential added value of the enhanced SENACA prototype for chronic disease management in the participating countries.