Development and Adoption of Innovations Developed by Patients

Patients of chronic diseases, and their informal caregivers, often innovate by developing new solutions to help them cope with their health disorders. This phenomenon has been receiving growing attention from innovation and medical scholars, but little is known about the healthcare factors contributing to the process. Also, peer adoption of the solutions developed by patients or caregivers has not been studied. Given easy access to vast internet resources and peers globally, it is increasingly important to understand what may influence user innovation and its adoption in health, for improving individual well-being and ensuring their safety. In particular, how interactions with peers, with physicians, or search behavior, along with socio-demographics, may influence the decision to develop a solution or adopt one developed by a peer. In this study, we analyze the development and peer-topeer adoption of user innovations in healthcare and identify individual-level factors associated with these processes. Data was collected via computer-assisted phone survey, from a large, random, and representative sample of adult residents in Portugal (N=6204). We find that in the population considered in this study, estimated 1.3% reported having developed a solution for own use and 3.3% reported to have adopted a solution developed by peers. The three groups (Developers, Adopters, Remaining population) have distinctive characteristics. Gender plays an important role in the solution development, as women are less likely to develop one. Education is positively associated with the development activity, but also with the intentions to adopt a peer-developed solution. Search for health-related information is positively associated with the development, adoption, and the intentions to adopt a solution. Interactions with peers over the internet and rare, but in-person interactions are frequent and have positive association with the dependent variables in all three groups. The results also suggest that the trust in doctors represents an important dimension that shapes the attitudes of the population towards peer-developed solutions. This study demonstrates the importance of the peer community, doctor-patient relationship and citizen’s search for information the on innovation and individual attitudes towards peer-to-peer adoption in healthcare. It stresses the need for a reliable online health-related information, and the necessity to deeper understand complex relationships between the need to improve health/fulfill the need and the perception of the health care system.