Changing the Narrative of Rehabilitation Experiences Through the Development of Kompass Kids: A Qualitative Study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Though paediatric rehabilitation is a critical component of healthcare, it is under-resourced and researched, with interventions based on adult care models. Children and young people (CYP) deserve to be treated as their own population, with their care designed accordingly. In line with current healthcare evolution, and the fact that CYP are ‘digital natives’, technology should be employed in order to achieve the reform necessary within the discipline. OBJECTIVE Therefore, this UKRI funded project sought to establish CYP and parents’ views on technology within rehabilitation with view to co-design ‘Kompass Kids’ a patient portal application for CYP in rehabilitation to accompany an existing software application, Kompass Health. METHODS Data were collected using a two-phase semi-structured interview design, with six participants (n=6). Phase one explored general attitudes toward technology and elicited design suggestions for the portal; phase two involved feedback on developed wireframes. Reflexive thematic analysis (Boyatzis, 1998) was used to analyse participant transcripts, with emergent themes acknowledged as shaped by social and experiential contexts (Braun & Clarke, 2006). RESULTS Five themes emerged from the data: 1) Meaningful rehabilitation, 2) Provision of care, 3) Progress, 4) Information and 5) Empowerment. Rehabilitation technologies were viewed positively by the participants, particularly to enhance autonomy and personal meaning within their rehabilitation. Access to information and tracking potential were deemed as necessary and important for best-practice rehabilitation. Both at the initial conceptualisation and the wireframe stage, Kompass Kids was received extremely well, with participants identifying its utility for them personally, and for rehabilitation more broadly. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates the value of experience-based co-design in developing equitable, child-centred digital health tools. By involving children and parents throughout the design process, the resulting intervention was meaningfully aligned with user priorities and real-world needs. The study emphasises the importance of personal relevance and emotional engagement in rehabilitation, underscoring that paediatric interventions must reflect children’s developmental needs, interests, and identities. Clinically, the study supports growing calls for digitally integrated care pathways that improve continuity, accessibility, and engagement in paediatric rehabilitation, addressing long-standing service gaps and the need for developmentally appropriate, motivating interventions.