ABSTRACT
Imagine you have developed a technology to support self-management in patients with chronic diseases and you want to know if it really has added value for your target group. Therefore, you have set up an evaluation study. Before patients start to use the technology, you ask them to complete questionnaires to assess how they feel. After they have been using the technology for a while, you ask them again to complete the same questionnaires. Now you might know a bit more about what the effects of the technology might be on, for example, the users’ quality of life. But there is a lot more that you do not know. For instance, how cost-effective is the technology? What are the experiences of the patients? Do healthcare providers like the technology as well? Was the technology used at all, and how can we improve its usage? The goal of this chapter is to explain how to answer these types of questions by explaining the why and what of eHealth evaluations. Multiple types of evaluation approaches and research methods that are suitable for eHealth will be presented. However, – as is the case in any activity related to eHealth – the exact evaluation process will differ per technology, context, and research team.
