Integrating Digital Health Diaries to Help Improve Patient-Centered Care in Children with Chronic Illnesses: A Pilot Study of Engagement and Outcome monitoring.

Introduction: Paediatric patient-centered care is centered on collaboration, shared decision-making, and individualized care. The utilization of care pathways for children with chronic illnesses is rarely consistent, which impacts their adherence and outcomes. This paper reviews the subject of digital health diaries as a means of improving engagement and maximising outcome monitoring.

Methods: Ten participants were selected from a three-month perspective pilot study with fifty children aged between 6 and 16 years who had chronic disease conditions with either asthma, type 1 diabetes, or juvenile idiopathic arthritis. The interactive digital diary was a secure and interactive journal where participants and caregivers recorded symptoms, medication compliance, and lifestyle issues. The healthcare teams would consider the entries on a weekly basis and offer customized feedback. Measures of engagement like frequency of entry and caregiver involvement and clinical outcomes like disease activity scores, hospitalisation, and adherence were followed.

Results: The engagement through the diary was high, with 84% of the respondents recording data at least five days per week. An increase in the involvement of caregivers was associated with increased adherence. An initial review of the data displayed a decrease in the number of unplanned hospitalisations and a higher disease activity score of active diary users. Families indicated an improvement in their satisfaction with communication of care and were more engaged in treatment decision-making.

Conclusions: Digital health diaries are a viable solution in facilitating patient-centered care in paediatrics. They promote communication, provide useful outcome data, and improve communication between children, their caregivers, and medical staff. Further studies should be performed on a larger scale in order to verify long-term benefits and scalability.