My hip journey: A qualitative study of patients’ experiences of an eHealth program for patient preparation and recovery from hip replacement surgery

Aim and objective To explore patient experiences, perceived benefits and suggestions of an eHealth program for pre‐ and post‐operative education for total hip arthroplasty. Background eHealth programs for surgical patients can facilitate the delivery of information, provide individualised rehabilitation plans and enable communication with health professionals to promote overall patient recovery. Design A qualitative descriptive study was conducted following the COREQ guidelines. A convenience sample of nine patients who had total hip arthroplasty and used the My Hip Journey eHealth program were recruited and participated in individual semi‐structured telephone interviews. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Results The participant group were aged between 53 and 70 years. The results are described in three overarching themes and sub‐themes: (1) Supported surgical journey—how the My Hip Journey eHealth program supported them in their preparation and recovery from their surgery, and how the program provided information and encouraged engagement; (2) Motivated recovery—how patients found the program motivational, facilitated their self‐management and enabled communication with the healthcare team if they had any concern; and (3) Functionality—how the program related to ease of use, its interactivity with the patient and suggestions for future use. Conclusions The patients reported that using the eHealth program for pre‐ and post‐operative education was helpful to their overall surgical experience and recovery. It was found to engage patients in their care, enabled self‐management, encouraged communication with health professionals and motivated them with their recovery. These findings identify the potential for eHealth programs to support patients in the preparation and post‐operative stages, and in their post‐discharge self‐care for other surgical and orthopaedic journeys. Relevance to clinical practice Patient experiences of eHealth education can inform nurses of the benefits of eHealth and the development of future eHealth education programs.