Health Consumer Engagement, Enablement, and Empowerment in Smartphone-Enabled Home-Based Diagnostic Testing for Viral Infections: Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

Background: Health consumers are increasingly taking a more substantial role in decision-making and self-care regarding their health. A range of digital technologies is available for laypeople to find, share, and generate health-related information that supports their health care processes. There is also innovation and interest in home testing enabled by smartphone technology (smartphone-supported home testing [smart HT]). However, few studies have focused on the process from initial engagement to acting on the test results, which involves multiple decisions.

Objective: This study aimed to identify and model the key factors leading to health consumers' engagement and enablement associated with smart HT. We also explored multiple levels of health care choices resulting from health consumer empowerment and activation from smart HT use. Understanding the factors and choices associated with engagement, enablement, empowerment, and activation helps both research and practice to support the intended and optimal use of smart HT.

Methods: This study reports the findings from 2 phases of a more extensive pilot study of smart HT for viral infection. In these 2 phases, we used mixed methods (semistructured interviews and surveys) to shed light on the situated complexities of health consumers making autonomous decisions to engage with, perform, and act on smart HT, supporting the diagnostic aspects of their health care. Interview (n=31) and survey (n=282) participants underwent smart HT testing for influenza in earlier pilot phases. The survey also extended the viral infection context to include questions related to potential smart HT use for SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis.

Results: Our resulting model revealed the smart HT engagement and enablement factors, as well as choices resulting from empowerment and activation. The model included factors leading to engagement, specifically various intrinsic and extrinsic influences. Moreover, the model included various enablement factors, including the quality of smart HT and the personal capacity to perform smart HT. The model also explores various choices resulting from empowerment and activation from the perspectives of various stakeholders (public vs private) and concerning different levels of impact (personal vs distant).

Conclusions: The findings provide insight into the nuanced and complex ways health consumers make decisions to engage with and perform smart HT and how they may react to positive results in terms of public-private and personal-distant dimensions. Moreover, the study illuminates the role that providers and smart HT sources can play to better support digitally engaged health consumers in the smart HT decision process.

Keywords: consumer health informatics; diagnostic testing; home testing; influenza; mHealth; mobile phone; patient activation; patient empowerment; patient enablement; patient engagement; smart HT; viral infection.

Figure 1

Smartphone-supported home testing (Smart HT)–Empowered Activation Model (research questions, RQ's, highlighted).

Figure 2

Study phases (phases 3 and 4 [shown in orange] are the objectives that relate to the scope of this paper). PCR: Polymerase chain reaction.

Figure 3

Factors affecting engagement. Smart HT: smartphone-supported home testing.

Figure 4

Factors affecting enablement. Smart HT: smartphone-supported home testing.

Figure 5

Multilevel choices resulting from empowerment and activation. Smart HT: smartphone-supported home testing.