Background/Objectives:

Participation in healthcare is one of the most important components in management of children’s disease. eHealth services that are adapted to the needs of children have the potential to reorganize how children and professionals work together. The digital interactive communication tool Sisom, was developed to give children in pediatric oncology care “a voice". However, the implementation of eHealth services, such as Sisom, in daily practice is rarely being investigated. The objective of this study was to explore the process and effects of implementing Sisom at four pediatric care centers in Sweden.

Design/Methods:

A process and effect evaluation design was used to investigate the implementation of Sisom in a clinical context at four pediatric care centers in Sweden. In total, 46 children, age 6- 13 years, participated and most of them had a cancer diagnosis. The children used Sisom at two occasions during 6 months. Following the use of Sisom, a printed report formed the basis for a forthcoming dialogue between professionals, children and their parents.

Results:

Key factors for successful implementation of Sisom was; i) alignment of the solution with values and goals of the organization, ii) professional’s beliefs in the usefulness and usability of the solution, and iii) professional’s willingness to apply changes in their professional roles promoted by the solution. Sisom directed healthcarecommunication from the parents’ voices toward the child’s voice and made children’s needs and preferences explicitly visible in decision-making.Sisom was experienced, by the children, as a user-friendly tool through which they could find ways to express themselves and share information with their parents and healthcare professionals.

Conclusions:

The results show how healthcare deliverycan be reorganized towards a child-centered approach, and the importance of implementing an eHealth service to support restructuring ofways of working with children’s participation to succeed with this.