title: Tailored and integrated Web-based tools for improving psychosocial outcomes of cancer patients: the DoTTI development framework.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Effective communication with cancer patients and their families about their disease, treatment options, and possible outcomes may improve psychosocial outcomes. However, traditional approaches to providing information to patients, including verbal information and written booklets, have a number of shortcomings centered on their limited ability to meet patient preferences and literacy levels. New-generation Web-based technologies offer an innovative and pragmatic solution for overcoming these limitations by providing a platform for interactive information seeking, information sharing, and user-centered tailoring.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The primary goal of this paper is to discuss the advantages of comprehensive and iterative Web-based technologies for health information provision and propose a four-phase framework for the development of Web-based information tools.
  
  
  METHODS
  The proposed framework draws on our experience of constructing a Web-based information tool for hematological cancer patients and their families. The framework is based on principles for the development and evaluation of complex interventions and draws on the Agile methodology of software programming that emphasizes collaboration and iteration throughout the development process.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The DoTTI framework provides a model for a comprehensive and iterative approach to the development of Web-based informational tools for patients. The process involves 4 phases of development: (1) Design and development, (2) Testing early iterations, (3) Testing for effectiveness, and (4) Integration and implementation. At each step, stakeholders (including researchers, clinicians, consumers, and programmers) are engaged in consultations to review progress, provide feedback on versions of the Web-based tool, and based on feedback, determine the appropriate next steps in development.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This 4-phase framework is evidence-informed and consumer-centered and could be applied widely to develop Web-based programs for a diverse range of diseases.
authors.affiliation: Rochelle.Smits@newcastle.edu.au.
authors.forename: Rochelle
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Smits
authors.forename: Jamie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bryant
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sanson-Fisher
authors.forename: Flora
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tzelepis
authors.forename: Frans
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Henskens
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Stevenson
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D019337:Hematologic Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D020407:Internet; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D014584:User-Computer Interface
keywords: Internet; communication; consumer health information; health literacy; medical informatics; neoplasms