JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

As a consequence of the COVID-19 outbreak, 80% of the persons infected have mild symptoms and are required to self-recover at home. They have a strong demand for remote healthcare that despite the great potential of artificial intelligence are not met in the current (e)-health services. Understanding the real needs of these persons is lacking.

Objective:

The aim of this paper is to contribute with a fine-grained understanding of the home isolation experience of persons with mild COVID-19 symptoms in order to enhance AI technology applications in eHealth services.

Methods:

Design research in which a qualitative approach was used to map the patient journey. Data on the home isolation experiences of persons with mild COVID-19 symptoms was collected from the top viewed personal video stories on YouTube and their comment threads. For the analysis, this data was transcribed, coded and mapped into the patient journey map.

Results:

The key findings on the home isolation experience of persons with mild COVID-19 symptoms concern: (a) Extensive awareness period before testing positive; (b) Experiences of less typical but more personal symptoms; (c) Severe negative mood experience curve; (d) Inadequate home healthcare service support for mild COVID-19 patients through all stages; (e) Benefits and drawbacks of social media support for mild COVID-19 patients; (f) Main touchpoint needs for home healthcare interaction with AI applications.

Conclusions:

The design of the patient journey map and underlying insights into the home isolation experience of persons with mild COVID-19 symptoms enables health and IT professionals to more effectively apply AI technology in eHealth services for mild COVID-19 patients. Three service concepts are proposed: (I) Trustworthy public health information to release stress; (II) Personal COVID-19 health monitoring; and (III) Online social community support to experience togetherness. Clinical Trial: n.a.