Self-efficacy Through Digital Care Plan Participation

The concept of self-care is a foundational construct of individual health and wellness. Facilitated self-care is the next logical step in society's uptake of technology for previously high-touch clinical activities, such as patient education and frequent biometric data tracking. This retrospective study aimed to assess whether participation in a digital interactive care plan correlated with an increase in participants' perceived self-efficacy as measured by a change in the Shortened Perceived Medical Condition Self-management Scale score from baseline to end-of-care plan. We included adult patients who were enrolled in at least one of 15 different interactive care plans at our institution between October 21, 2021, and December 30, 2022. Among 3196 patients included, 48.7% of participants did not complete the Shortened Perceived Medical Condition Self-management Scale assessment at baseline, and 73.5% did not complete it at end-of-care plan. For those who completed both assessments (n = 848), 52.2% had no change in their reported self-efficacy on completion of care plan. Similar percentages of patients had increased and decreased scores (25.6% vs 21.9%). The low completion rates were not sufficient to answer the research questions and generalize results. They also underscore the importance of patient engagement for understanding health outcomes associated with implementation of digital health solutions.