Participatory design of ehealth solutions for women from vulnerable populations with perinatal depression.
OBJECTIVE
Cultural and health service obstacles affect the quality of pregnancy care that women from vulnerable populations receive. Using a participatory design approach, the Stress in Pregnancy: Improving Results with Interactive Technology group developed specifications for a suite of eHealth applications to improve the quality of perinatal mental health care.


METHODS
We established a longitudinal participatory design group consisting of low-income women with a history of antenatal depression, their prenatal providers, mental health specialists, an app developer, and researchers. The group met 20 times over 24 months. Applications were designed using rapid prototyping. Meetings were documented using field notes.


CONCLUSIONS
The group achieved high levels of continuity and engagement. Three apps were developed by the group: an app to support high-risk women after discharge from hospital, a screening tool for depression, and a patient decision aid for supporting treatment choice.


CONCLUSIONS
Longitudinal participatory design groups are a promising, highly feasible approach to developing technology for underserved populations.
Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, 2nd Floor Gates Pavilion, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia PA 19104.
Mara
M
Gordon
Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, 2nd Floor Gates Pavilion, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia PA 19104.
Rebecca
R
Henderson
Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA USA.
John H
JH
Holmes
School of Informatics, 10 Crichton Street, Edinburgh EH8 9AB, UK.
Maria K
MK
Wolters
Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, 2nd Floor Gates Pavilion, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia PA 19104 ibennett@uw.edu.
Ian M
IM
Bennett
D000553:Ambulatory Care; D003863:Depression / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D018743:Perinatal Care; D015143:Philadelphia; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000628:therapy*; D012923:Social Class; D017216:Telemedicine; D035862:Vulnerable Populations
depression; low socioeconomic status; participatory design; patient decision aid; pregnancy