Technology in exercise-based cancer rehabilitation: a cross-sectional study of receptiveness and readiness for e-Health utilization in Danish cancer rehabilitation

Abstract

Background: During recent years, there has been an increased focus on technology within cancer survivorship and physical activity rehabilitation. Failure to acknowledge the individuals wishes and/or limitations in the use of technology introduces risk of neglecting or excluding low-resource individuals, thus adding to an already existing inequity within cancer management. It is important to identify vulnerable sub-populations with particular needs when introducing health technology to offer appropriate rehabilitation and support individuals in taking advantage of technology in their physical activity rehabilitation. We report how a population of cancer survivors referred to municipality-based rehabilitation can be segmented, according to their receptiveness and readiness for health technology utilization, to understand their potential barriers towards using technology.

Methods: We used a cross-sectional design with convenience sampling among Danish cancer survivors (n = 305) referred to rehabilitation. Participants completed a questionnaire survey covering background information and a new tool to assess self-reported health technology readiness. Demographic, disease and behavioral factors were described in relation to the participants’ receptiveness to use technology in physical activity rehabilitation. Participants were stratified according to their health technology readiness and the resulting groups described with regards to the above-mentioned factors.

Results: Almost 30% of the participants were un-receptive to use technology in relation to physical activity rehabilitation and were characterized by being more vulnerable with regards to sociodemographic characteristics and scoring lower on dimensions related to eHealth literacy. Stratification of the participants according to their health technology readiness profile revealed four distinct profiles that were significantly different in sociodemographic, disease and behavioral factors.

Conclusion: To reduce the risk of alienating low-resource individuals when introducing health technology, evaluation of the individuals’ receptiveness to use technology in a rehabilitation context and their readiness for health technology may help tailor the extent to which technology should be offered to assist the cancer survivors.