The Development of a LINE Official Account Application for Breast Cancer Patients in Ubonratchathani Cancer Hospital

Abstract

Breast cancer represents a significant global health challenge, with increasing incidence rates. Given the complexity of treatment, developing effective applications for patient care management is essential in our evolving social context. This research and development study aimed to examine the situation, develop, and evaluate a LINE Official Account application for breast cancer patients at Ubonratchathani Cancer Hospital. The study employed a four-phase research design: 1) Situation analysis and needs assessment with purposively selected samples of 15 breast cancer patients undergoing treatment and 5 registered nurses, 2) Design and development phase involving 20 registered nurses with at least 2 years of experience in breast cancer care and specialized oncology nursing certification, 3) Implementation phase with 5 breast cancer patients and 5 registered nurses, and 4) Evaluation phase with 30 breast cancer patients and 15 purposively selected registered nurses. Research instruments included: 1) in-depth interview guidelines, 2) brainstorming discussion guidelines for application design, 3) breast cancer knowledge questionnaire, and 4) satisfaction questionnaires for patients and nurses. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, content analysis, and paired t-test at 0.05 significance level. Results: The situation analysis revealed that most information was provided in paper format, existing applications did not cover all treatment aspects, and there was no convenient channel for contacting nurses. A LINE Official Account application named "Breast Cancer Literacy" was developed with three components: learning materials covering all treatment aspects, integration with UBCH EASY Application for accessing medical records and appointments, and communication channels between patients and unit nurses. The application was validated by three experts. Implementation results showed significant improvements in patients' knowledge scores (Mean difference=6.7, p-value<.001), patient satisfaction (Mean difference=1.47, p-value <.001), and nurse satisfaction (Mean difference=1.64, p-value<.001). Conclusion: The developed application effectively enhanced patients' knowledge and satisfaction of both patients and nurses. Its success is attributed to LINE's popularity in daily use, user-friendly content design covering all treatment aspects, convenient nurse communication channels, and personal medical record access features. The application should be integrated into breast cancer patient care, expanded throughout the organization, and used as a model for developing applications for other cancer patients.