Process Evaluation of an eHealth Intervention Implemented into General Practice: General Practitioners' and Patients' Views

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018 Jul 12;15(7):1475. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15071475.

Abstract

(1) Background: It has been shown that online interventions can be enhanced by providing additional support; accordingly, we developed an implementation plan for the use of an eHealth intervention targeting physical activity and healthy nutrition in collaboration with general practitioners (GPs). In this study, GPs and patients evaluated the actual implementation; (2) Methods: Two hundred and thirty two patients completed the feasibility questionnaire regarding the implementation of "MyPlan 1.0" in general practice. Individual interviews were conducted with 15 GPs who implemented "MyPlan 1.0" into their daily work flow; (3) Results: The majority of the patients indicated that general practice was an appropriate setting to implement the online intervention. However, patients were not personally addressed by GPs and advice/action plans were not discussed with the GPs. The GPs indicated that this problem was caused by the severe time restrictions in general practice. GPs also seemed to select those patients who they believed to be able to use (e.g., highly educated patients) and to benefit from the intervention (e.g., patients with overweight); (4) Conclusions: Although GPs were involved in the development of the online intervention and its implementation plan, the programme was not used in general practice as intended.

Keywords: eHealth; general practice; health promotion; healthy nutrition; physical activity; self-regulation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Attitude
  • Diet
  • Exercise
  • Female
  • General Practice*
  • General Practitioners / psychology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Patients / psychology
  • Program Evaluation
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Telemedicine*