Usability of the Participation and Environment Measure Plus (PEM plus ) for Client-Centered and Participation-Focused Care Planning

Importance: The Participation and Environment Measure Plus (PEM+) is a new electronic health application to help caregivers contribute to client-centered and participation-focused care planning for their young child. The PEM+ is designed to help caregivers build on their participation assessment by determining priority activities, setting specific goals, and identifying strategies for goal attainment. Objective: To examine the usability of the PEM+. Design: A single-arm usability trial. Setting: Two early intervention and early childhood educational programs. Participants: Six caregivers of children ages 0-3 yr with developmental delay and receiving rehabilitation services. Intervention: Caregivers who were eligible and enrolled were given access to the PEM+ for 1 wk and instructed to complete one iteration. Outcomes and Measures: Usability was assessed according to caregivers' report of PEM+'s technical effectiveness and ease of use, ease of learning, and user satisfaction via the Usefulness, Satisfaction, and Ease of Use questionnaire. Results: All caregivers completed the PEM+ online once and in its entirety (mean completion time = 13.6 min). Mean technical effectiveness ratings ranged from 5.7 to 6.3 out of 7.0, and mean ease of use, ease of learning, and user satisfaction ratings were 4.4, 5.4, and 4.2 out of 6.0, respectively. Conclusions and Relevance: Caregivers of young children can navigate the PEM+. Trends in survey feedback informed optimizations for the PEM+ before further feasibility testing. What This Article Adds: This study provides preliminary evidence for a promising tool that can help to customize the way practitioners partner with families to create a plan for occupational therapy services.