Background Goal setting is a key part of the rehabilitation process. The use of technology and electronic tools such as smartphone apps and websites has been suggested as a way of improving the engagement of users in meaningful goal setting and facilitating shared decision-making between patients and health professionals. Objective This study aims to describe experiences of health professionals and patients in the use of the English language version of the iPad app Aid for Decision-making in Occupational Choice (ADOC) to facilitate collaborative goal setting in rehabilitation. Methods We recruited participants from 3 acute and postacute care rehabilitation wards in both public and private organizations in New Zealand. Participants were registered allied health professionals, including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and speech-language therapists, who engage in goal setting as part of their normal work, and their adult patients. We collected data via semistructured interviews to gather information about the experiences of the participants in the use of ADOC for goal setting. Data were analyzed with thematic analysis. Results A total of 8 health professionals and 8 patients participated in the study. Six main themes emerged from the data: changing patients’ perspective on what is possible, changing health professionals’ perspective on what is important, facilitating shared decision-making, lack of guides for users, logistic and organizational barriers, and app-related and technical issues. Conclusions Health professionals and patients found ADOC to be a valuable tool when setting shared rehabilitation goals. The use of ADOC promoted a patient-centered approach that empowered patients to engage in collaborative goal setting. The technological limitations of the app that negatively impacted experiences can be addressed in the future implementation of ADOC in rehabilitation settings.

ObjectiveTo map the extant literature evaluating the use of technology for goal setting in adult rehabilitation and the impact of technology for patient outcomes.DesignScoping review.MethodsMEDLINE (via Ovid), CINAHL (via EBSCO), AMED and Scopus were searched for articles describing observational or interventional studies. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database were searched for grey literature. Two review authors independently screened all titles and abstracts for potentially relevant articles. We included articles describing studies that had evaluated the development or application of technology to facilitate goal setting in rehabilitation for adults. Articles were excluded if the technology described did not include features to facilitate goal setting or were not in English. Narrative reviews, opinion pieces and editorials were also excluded.ResultsAfter screening 1640 publications of potential interest, we identified 27 studies for inclusion. These 27 articles described studies involving a total of 16 different technologies including, seven mobile apps, three websites, two mobile apps/website hybrids, two apps and two websites connected to a pedometer. We found that most technologies described were designed to facilitate self-management with goal setting as a feature and that only five included a shared decision moment around goal setting. Only six of the 16 technologies had research providing evidence of effectiveness in terms of improved patient outcomes, with the best evidence of beneficial effects associated with technologies that linked goal setting to pedometer use.ConclusionsThe identified technologies for use in adult rehabilitation that included goal setting as a feature were largely accepted and valued by patients and health professionals. The limited data suggest that there is a need for further research; specific foci may include the impact of incorporation of a shared decision-making moment and evaluation of effectiveness on patient outcomes.

BACKGROUND Goal setting is a key part of the rehabilitation process. The use of technology and electronic tools such as smartphone applications (apps) and websites has been suggested as a way of improving the engagement of users in meaningful goal-setting and facilitating shared decision-making between patients and health professionals. OBJECTIVE To describe experiences of health professionals and patients in the use of the English language version of the iPad app Aid for Decision-making in Occupational Choice (ADOC) to facilitate collaborative goal setting in rehabilitation. METHODS We recruited participants from three acute and post-acute care rehabilitation wards in both public and private organizations in New Zealand. Participants were registered allied health professionals including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and speech-language therapists, who engage in goal setting as part of their normal work, and their adult patients. We collected data via semi-structured interviews to gather information about the experiences of the participants in the use of ADOC for goal setting. Data were analyzed with thematic analysis. RESULTS Eight health professionals and eight patients participated in the study. Six main themes emerged from the data: a) Changing patients’ perspective on what is possible; b) Changing health professionals’ perspective on what is important; c) Facilitating shared decision-making; d) Lack of guides for users; e) Logistic and organizational barriers; and f) App related and technical issues. CONCLUSIONS Health professionals and patients found ADOC to be a valuable tool when setting shared rehabilitation goals. The use of ADOC promoted a patient-centered approach that empowered patients to engage in collaborative goal setting. The technological limitations of the app that negatively impacted experiences can be addressed in the future implementation of ADOC in rehabilitation settings. CLINICALTRIAL The trial was retrospectively registered and allocated to the Australian New Zealand Clinal Trial Registry (ACTRN) number ACTRN12620001328965.