Engaging Patients with Chronic

Diseases Using ICT:A Multicultural Approach in B.C. Canada

Kendall Ho, MD FRCPC

Director, eHealth Strategy Office

Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia

World of Health IT Conference, Barcelona

March 17, 2010

If you build it, will they come?

Dyersville, Iowa (filming of “Field of Dreams”)

Engaging

Public in

ICT Use in

CDM?

3

Engaging Public: Chronic Diseases

• Accurate & quality health information

• Enable self-care & health partnerships

• Impact on chronic disease management

• Health consumers & health professionals

• Between generations & care givers

• Peer to peer

British Columbia,

Canada

Home Language:English 51%

Chinese 21.6%

Punjabi 8.2%

Korean 2.7%

Filipino (Tagalog) 2%

Persian (Farsi) 1.7%

Vietnamese 1.3%

Spanish 1.2%

Serving multicultural public?•Language marginalization

•Computer skills

•Hunger for health knowledge

6

iCON: Goals

1. Provide access to culturally relevant health

information in Chinese language

2. Use multi-channel engagement to reach a

variety of community members’ needs/

preferences

3. Gather and incorporate data to ensure

community-driven content and format

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Health Forum, Vancouver

8

Live Forum Component

• Chinese and South Asian doctors, nurses, dietician, pharmacists…

• Diabetes: September 2007 (~700 attendees)

• Healthy Heart: April 2008 (~1000 attendees)

• Dementia: October 2008 (~700 attendees)

• Dementia: March 2009 (~750 attendees)

• Liver Disease: November 2009 (~1,450 attendees)

• Medical & university students

• Surveys, focus groups, interviews

Web component

• Culturally appropriate and language translated:

• Traditional and simplified Chinese characters

• Punjabi

• Chronic disease management content:

• Symptoms

• Self-management

• Diet

• Local resources

• Interactive feedback

• Online survey…

Culturally relevant and

translated health resources

www.iconproject.org

Public Engagement - Highlights

• Over 95% of the surveys turned in first language

• Female 65% Male 35%

• Average 65 years (mid-30s to late 90s)

• 1/3 Patients

• 1/3 Interested in prevention

• 1/3 Caregivers

Findings: What does self care mean?

• Trying to make healthy choices but need culturally relevant resources

available in own language

• Becoming better informed so they will have to “use the system less”

• Having sufficient knowledge to be conversant with health professionals

• Helping family members care for themselves

“The problem with doctors is that

we only go for a check-up once,

but our condition may change

before or after, even if we are well

at our appointment…and he says

“ok” – we don’t know for sure….”

Necessary Ingredient:

Culturally relevant

resources available

in own language

Health info Sources:

•Doctors, HPs

•Newspapers, books

•Internet (41%)

DO YOU THINK IT IS A

GOOD IDEA TO KEEP A

RECORD OF YOUR OWN

HEALTH WITH YOU?

Good idea to keep own record? (Q#10)

10.6%

86.3%

3.1%

Maybe

Yes

No

Findings: Personal Health Record

Findings: Personal Health Record

• 75% see an advantage in electronic PHR

• 80% would like to learn electronic PHR

• 88% would like a template

Themes:

When a patient keeps his or her own record it

facilitates knowledge and self-management.

When both patient and physician keep a record it

facilitates comparison and validation of information.

Insights: Public Engagement Evaluation

• Common Desire: engaged, empowered, contribute

• Evaluation builds trust and partnerships

• Evaluation promotes authenticity, mutual understanding

• Through engagement, evaluation can build capacity

iCON…What’s next?

Digital Access through Web 2.0 Network (DAWN)

Public Health Agency of Canada funded

Reaching population in non-urban B.C.

Videoconferencing, web/pod casting

Blogs

Youtube

Wiki

Smart phones

…

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“Dizzy Gillespie”: lessons

• They're not particular about whether you're

playing a flatted fifth or a ruptured 129th as long

as they can dance to it.

• How do you know they like your music? If I got

their toes tapping, then I know I’ve got them

Essence of

Engagement

Multicultural Engagement in ICT

• Build content to invite

• Build community to engage

• Build evaluation to understand

• Build personal tools to transform

Contact Information

eHealth Strategy Office

Faculty of Medicine, UBC, Vancouver, Canada

MISSION: IT to enable education, service,

research and knowledge translation

Kendall Ho: Director & Associate Professor, Emergency Medicine

Kendall.Ho@ubc.ca

www.eHealth.med.ubc.ca

Facebook: Kendall Ho

Thank-you to….

• Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research

• Technology Enabled Knowledge Translation Investigative Centre

• BC Ministry of Health

• Vancouver Coastal Health Authority

• Fraser Health Authority

• Public Health Agency of Canada

• Safeway Canada

• SUCCESS, Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society

• The many health professionals, students and community members

• Francis Ho

• Kendall Ho

• Jennifer Cordeiro

• Noreen Kamal

• Shinie Tan

• Janice Tian

• Elizabeth Stacy

• Helen Novak Lauscher

Project Team

• Francisco Grajales III

• Jasmin Abizadeh

• Nelson Shen