Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

In this application we seek to improve the quality of colonoscopy service delivery in Canada by offering mobile health tools that support patients preparing for colonoscopy. Mobile health technologies, such as text messaging, smartphone applications, telephone hotlines, have been shown to improve patient adherence and health outcomes. We recently developed a smartphone application to help patients prepare for their colonoscopy appointments. The smartphone application was built using a patient-centered approach, in which preferences, requirements and informational needs were elicited directly from patients during focus group discussions, and then incorporated into the smartphone application. Focus group participants acknowledged that the smartphone application can help patients feel confident about doing the right thing at the right time as they prepare for their colonoscopy appointments. The purpose of this project is to bring together researchers and knowledge users from across the country to disseminate information on the smartphone application and other colonoscopy support tools, and to plan for the to-be-developed, pan-Canadian study that tests the new smartphone application for its ability to increase patient attendance at the colonoscopy appointment and adherence to bowel preparation instructions. Our ultimate goal is to improve and standardize colonoscopy services delivery in Canada.