Examining the perspectives of patients, clinicians and product designers on the design of a tool for measurement and rehabilitation of swallowing

Background: Tools available for dysphagia rehabilitation are limited in number and type. OroPress is a clinic-ready prototype tongue pressure measurement tool which may be used by clinicians for assessment and by patients as a rehabilitation tool. To ensure future tool development, it was important to gain the views of key stakeholders. Objectives: To: (i) explore whether patients would use a swallowing rehabilitation tool, (ii) establish how they might use such a tool; (iii) ascertain possible product format and (iv) elicit responses to OroPress as a prototype rehabilitation tool. Methods: A qualitative methodology was applied. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit a sample of participants (N=13) for three Focus Groups (FGs). These were: medical product designers (PD) (N=5), speech and language therapists (SLT) experienced in dysphagia management (N=4) and post-surgical head and neck (HN) cancer patients (N=4). A topic guide, photographs and models facilitated discussions. Data were audio recorded and transcribed post hoc. Thematic analysis was then used to develop open codes, selective codes and themes. Results: Across groups, four converging themes emerged from the data as important considerations in the design of a swallowing rehabilitation tool. These included; ease of use (Primary user usability), how the user might interact with the tool (User interface), how the device operates (product format) and OroPress specific responses (OroPress). Conclusions: Participants in all groups agreed that patients would find a tool useful but views differed across groups on tool use and the desired product format. OroPress may be further developed by incorporating the FGs’ convergent views and closely examining divergent views.