Co-Design Process of a Virtual Community of Practice for the Empowerment of People with Ischemic Heart Disease

• Main Authors: Ana Toledo-Chávarri, Vanesa Ramos-García, Débora Koatz, Alezandra Torres-Castaño, Lilisbeth Perestelo-Pérez, Ana Belén Ramírez-Puerta, María-Eugenia Tello-Bernabé, Juan-Manuel García-García, Javier García-García, Valeria Pacheco-Huergo, Carola Orrego, Ana Isabel González-González, e-mpodera group
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ubiquity Press 2020-11-01
• Series: International Journal of Integrated Care
• Subjects: empowerment; virtual communities of practices; ischemic heart disease; patient centred care; consumer involvement; co-design
• Online Access: https://www.ijic.org/articles/5514

Introduction: Virtual Communities of Practices (vCoP) offer patients the possibility to interact and share tools and knowledge necessary for their empowerment. This paper describes the co-design process of a vCoP for the empowerment of people with ischemic heart disease (IHD). Methods: We used a modified experience-based design approach to co-design the vCoP in collaboration with people with IHD and health professionals consisting of two phases: exploratory and development phase. Data collection techniques included listening labs, workshops, and online participation. Results: Twenty-five people with IHD and ten health professionals participated. Experiences and needs for empowerment in IHD were identified in the exploratory phase allowing for the development of a Patient Journey Map. In the development phase, people with IHD prioritized needs to be addressed by the vCoP content framework in addition to content proposals. Discussion: The Patient Journey Map helped to easily visualize the empowerment needs of people with IHD and it might be transferable for the development of other people-centred interventions. The co-design process also allowed the development of training materials adapted to the priorities of people with IHD. Conclusion: A people-centred co-design process of a vCoP may facilitate the empowerment of people with IHD.