Design and evaluation of an educational mobile program for liver transplant patients.

BACKGROUND: Liver transplantation, the last treatment for advanced liver failure, necessitates patient education due to its wide range of complications and subsequent disabilities. The present study was development-applied research and aimed to design a mobile-based educational program to provide liver transplant patients with critical health information. METHODS: In the first phase of the study, the crucial educational components were collected from the literature and organized in the form of a questionnaire using library studies and available global guidelines. The validity and reliability of this researcher-made questionnaire were confirmed by a panel of experts (n = 15), including gastroenterologists and liver specialists working in the Motahari liver clinic and AbuAli Sina Hospital in Shiraz. The application was designed followed by analyzing the data gathered from the first phase. To evaluate the mobile phone program's usability, to evaluate the application, 30 liver transplant patients were randomly selected. RESULTS: Most educational components covered in the questionnaire were deemed necessary by experts in the first phase. As a result, the educational contents were classified under 10 categories. The application had a good level of usability since the participants' satisfaction score was 8.1 (out of 9 points). CONCLUSIONS: Due to the increase in liver transplantation and the use of mobile phones, applications increase the patient's role in their health, and their awareness. It also leads to a better interaction and follow-up of the patient, the treatment staff of the medical centers.

Identifying and validating the educational needs to develop a Celiac Self-Care System.

BACKGROUND: Celiac disease is a major public health problem in many countries, including Iran. Considering the disease's exponential spread throughout the world and its risk factors, identifying the educational priorities and minimum data required to control and treat the disease is of great significance. METHODS: The present study was conducted in two phases in 2022. In the first phase, a questionnaire was developed based on the information obtained from a review of the literature. Later, the questionnaire was administered to 12 pundits in the fields of nutrition (n = 5), internal medicine (n = 4), and gastroenterology (n = 3). As a result, the necessary and important educational content was determined for developing the Celiac Self-Care System. RESULTS: According to the experts' viewpoints, the educational needs of patients were classified into nine categories of demographic information, clinical information, long-term complications, comorbidity, tests, medications, dietary recommendations, general recommendations, technical capabilities as well as 105 subcategories. CONCLUSIONS: Due to the increased prevalence of Celiac disease and the lack of an established minimum set of data, determining the required educational information is of great importance at the national level. Such information could be useful in implementing educational health programs to raise the public level of awareness. In the field of education, such contents can be employed in planning new technology based on mobile phones (mobile health), preparing registries, and producing widely used content.