Improving Quality of Life in Chronic Patients: A Pilot Study on the Effectiveness of a Health Recommender System and Its Usability

Abstract

The TeNDER project aims to improve the quality of life (QoL) of chronic patients through an integrated care ecosystem. This study evaluates the health recommender system (HRS) developed for the project, which offers personalized recommendations based on data collected from a set of monitoring devices. The list of notifications covered different areas of daily life such as physical activity, nutrition, and sleep. We conducted this case study to evaluate the effectiveness and usability of the HRS in providing accurate and relevant recommendations to users. Evaluation process consisted on survey administration for QoL assessment and the satisfaction and usability of the HRS. The four-week pilot study involved several patients and caregivers and demonstrated that the HRS was perceived as user-friendly, consistent, and helpful, with a positive impact on patients’ QoL. However, the study highlights the need for improvement in terms of personalization of recommendations.

Personalizing Digital Health: Adapting Health Technology Systems to Meet the Needs of Different Older Populations

“…An example was developed in a trial study [28], where patients achieved an 88% independency in managing medications thanks to personalised recommendations. In the TeNDER system, work on interfaces personalization included the development of the recommendation system module [29], which was piloted for 4-6 weeks, involving patients, carers and professionals. At the end of the pilot, and after analysing the surveys provided, it was determined to be perceived as user-friendly and having impacted positively the quality of life of the involved patients.…”