CHAT2App: Supporting Caregivers of Infants with Congenital Heart Disease

Abstract

Caregivers of post-operative infants treated for Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) undergo significant stress and anxiety following initial discharge. We examine the development of a mobile application to support caregivers and health care practitioners (HCPs) at this important time. Reflexive thematic analysis of responses to semi-structured interviews with both caregivers and HCPs is used to identify some of the key design requirements with a focus on addressing barriers and challenges to effective at home post-operative care-giving. We identify the need for careful and nuanced consideration of stake-holder perspectives and the unique challenges that this raises. These include effective recording and reminders for observations, clear communication channels and targeted and actionable outcomes to identifying symptoms of concern. A resulting prototype application is presented along with lessons learnt and remaining challenges uncovered during the study.