Barriers and facilitators influencing the implementation of an interactive Internet-portal application for patient education in psychiatric hospitals.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to identify barriers and facilitators influencing the implementation of an interactive Internet-portal application for patient education in psychiatric hospitals.


METHODS
The data were collected from nurses by means of a questionnaire with thematic open-ended questions. The data was analysed using qualitative content analysis.


RESULTS
Four main categories were formed to describe barriers and facilitators of portal implementation in psychiatric wards. These categories were organisational resources, nurses' individual characteristics, patient-related factors and portal-related factors. Some major barriers were identified restricting the use of the portal in patient education: lack of computers, lack of time for patients, nurses' negative attitudes towards computer use and lack of education. The main facilitators for portal use were appropriate technological resources, easy Internet access, enough time for portal use, and level of motivation among staff to use computers.


CONCLUSIONS
The specific challenge in achieving patient education with the computer in psychiatric care is to ensure technological resources and that the staff are motivated to use computers. At the same time, attention should be paid the relationship between patient and nurse.


CONCLUSIONS
It is important to examine the patient-nurse relationship in the education process and also to define the usability of the application from the patients' point of view.
Koivunen
Marita
M
Satakunta Hospital District and University of Turku, Department of Nursing Science, Turku, Finland. mhkoivu@utu.fi
Hätönen
Heli
H
Välimäki
Maritta
M
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001292:Attitude to Computers; D003197:Computer Literacy; D003200:Computer User Training; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology; D020407:Internet / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000458:organization & administration*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014584:User-Computer Interface