What is an ideal mHealth for post-discharge home care of CHD: perspectives from primary caregivers, healthcare professionals, and project technical consultants: a qualitative research study

BackgroundCongenital heart disease (CHD) remains a leading global birth defect with high prevalence, yet advances in diagnosis and treatment have raised survival rates to 90%–95%. This epidemiological shift transforms CHD into a chronic condition demanding long-term post-discharge home management. Although mobile health (mHealth) holds promise for supporting such care, current tools suffer from low adherence, insufficient age-appropriateness, and a lack of emotional and social support, and most evaluations neglect the integrated perspectives of primary caregivers, clinicians, and technical developers.ObjectiveThis study aims to explore and synthesize the needs for and perspectives regarding an idealized mHealth system for post-discharge CHD home care from the perspectives of primary caregivers (PC), healthcare professionals (HP), and technical consultants (TC).MethodsA qualitative descriptive design was employed, using semi-structured interviews with seven PC, six HP, and three TC. Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke's Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA) framework.ResultsSix overarching themes were identified: (1) tailored to individual, (2) easy to use, (3) media in convergence, (4) at the ready, (5) one clear voice and (6) emotional support on demand.ConclusionsThese findings provide a stakeholder-informed framework to guide future development of user-centered, clinically relevant, and technically robust mHealth interventions.