This study aimed to develop and evaluate a dietary self-care promotion program for HD patients based on Hurley’s self-efficacy model using an online community. The results confirmed the effectiveness of the program in improving dietary self-efficacy, dietary self-care behavior, IDWG, serum phosphorus, and serum potassium.
4.1. Development of the Dietary Self-Care Promotion Program Using an Online Community
Self-efficacy theory-based self-care promotion programs have shown improvements in self-efficacy and self-care behavior among individuals with various health issues [
30].
In this study, the self-efficacy theory was applied as a situation-specific theory to enhance dietary self-efficacy through the dietary self-care promotion program. The study observed that increased dietary self-efficacy led to improved dietary self-care behavior, IDWG, serum phosphorus, and serum potassium.
To tailor the program for HD patients, a literature review and needs assessment were conducted during program development. After program construction, two expert evaluations were conducted. The completeness of educational materials used in the program was enhanced through the use of web design software (Mango Board) and collaboration with a web designer. In order to increase the accessibility of the program, we planned a non-face-to-face program, providing a foundation for trying the intervention on more patients. Additionally, to enhance self-efficacy, the program incorporated the four elements of self-efficacy resources appropriately into its structure [
31].
Previous studies have indicated the effectiveness of using online communities in the medical field, showing improvements in patients’ subjective well-being, psychological well-being, self-care, and control [
32]. In a study involving end-stage renal disease patients, the implementation of self-management education, including an online community, resulted in improvements in self-efficacy, self-care, and physiological indicators [
33]. Similarly, in this study, the utilization of an online community led to enhanced dietary self-efficacy, subsequent improvements in dietary self-care behavior, and enhancements in IDWG, serum phosphorus, and serum potassium. Therefore, this program can be proposed as one avenue for the continuous health management of patients with chronic conditions like HD patients. It can serve as a new alternative for non-face-to-face interventions, providing a departure from the predominantly unidirectional communication methods of traditional interventions.
4.2. Effects of an Online Community-Based Dietary Self-Care Promotion Program
After implementing the dietary self-care promotion program, the experimental group’s dietary self-efficacy significantly increased over time, similar to the findings of Kim & Choi [
34]. Kim & Choi [
34] provided tailored dietary education to HD patients for four weeks, confirming a significant effect on self-efficacy, which persisted for up to eight weeks. This provides evidence that the intervention period in this study was sufficient for enhancing dietary self-efficacy, and the effect could potentially last up to eight weeks. Moreover, the study by Kim & Choi [
34], which offered face-to-face counseling, yielded results similar to our study, suggesting that there may not be a significant difference in the effects between face-to-face and non-face-to-face programs. Park & Kim [
35] provided a non-face-to-face self-care behavior promotion program, confirming significant differences in self-efficacy, treatment adherence, IDWG, serum potassium, and serum phosphorus levels. This reaffirms that non-face-to-face interventions can be an effective means for enhancing self-efficacy in HD patients.
Pack & Lee [
28] conducted a self-care behavior promotion program for HD patients using an app, confirming results similar to those of our study. In their study, they measured dietary self-efficacy using the same tools as our study, and immediately after the intervention, observed an increase of 11.54 points compared to before the intervention. This effect was larger than the 7.7 points increase observed in our study. It can be speculated that Pack & Lee [
28] implemented active interventions through app counseling or phone calls. In our study, attempts were made to provide personalized dietary practices and behavioral corrections through comments on participants’ posts; however, this was mainly provided to participants with high engagement, limiting its effectiveness. Therefore, in future research, it may be worth considering interventions that identify participants requiring active intervention and provide counseling, addressing the limitations of non-face-to-face intervention methods.
In this study, significant differences between groups over time and significant interactions between groups and time were observed in dietary self-care behavior after providing the dietary self-care promotion program. In the domain of self-care among HD patients, dietary management was identified as an area with low adherence [
2,
3,
36,
37]. Some previous studies have reported that even after implementing a dietary self-care promotion program, no significant effects were observed in dietary self-care behavior [
38,
39,
40,
41]. However, in this study, some significant effects were identified in dietary self-care behavior, and these results are consistent with the findings of Kim & Choi [
34] and Hashemi et al. [
42]. Kim & Choi [
34] conducted individual counseling and education, while Hashemi et al. [
42] provided individual counseling and education with follow-up measures via phone and in-person. In our study, significant effects were observed by tailoring dietary practices and behavior modification suggestions based on individuals’ mission performance and Q&A. Therefore, it is suggested that when constructing non-face-to-face intervention programs, tailored intervention components based on participants’ individual situations are essential to enhance the effectiveness of the program. Additionally, considering that end-stage renal disease patients may have good awareness of food (low phosphorus, low sodium, low fluid intake) but may lack understanding of the direct impact of food [
43], explanations were provided using examples of common food menus, home-cooked meals, and supplemental foods. Furthermore, to address the potential difficulty of execution due to the burden of dietary self-care behavior, explanations were focused on permissible foods rather than restricted ones, and encouragement for practice yielded positive results.
Research attempting to enhance self-care through online communities among HD patients is challenging to compare directly due to the scarcity of cases. Li et al. [
33] utilized an app, including an online community, to provide dietary, exercise, and self-care education to end-stage renal disease patients, resulting in improvements in self-efficacy, self-care, and physiological indicators (eGFR). Yang et al. [
44] also applied interventions with online community features to delay the initiation of dialysis in end-stage renal disease patients. Considering the nature of patients with chronic illnesses who must continue their daily lives in a diseased state, the advantage of interventions that patients can access anytime, anywhere may have played a role. Moreover, the poor adherence to dietary self-care behavior in HD patients can act as a cause of various complications and mortality [
9,
45,
46,
47]. Therefore, the improvement in dietary self-care behavior is considered a positive effect of the program. Additionally, Kim et al. [
39] applied a video program, An [
48] conducted a study comparing three non-face-to-face intervention methods (phone calls, text messages, emails) and confirmed significant effects in self-care behaviors. Cho & Park [
49] utilized a tablet personal computer (PC), and Park & Kim [
35] used an app for non-face-to-face interventions, both confirming significant effects in self-care behaviors. Baraz et al. [
50] compared the effects of face-to-face and non-face-to-face interventions (video) and found no significant differences in dietary self-care behavior between the two groups. This supports the applicability of the non-face-to-face intervention through online communities attempted in this study and provides evidence for the potential use of this program as an efficient alternative to reduce the burden on healthcare providers and healthcare costs associated with the increasing number of HD patients.
The results of applying the dietary self-care promotion program in this study showed significant differences in IDWG in terms of within-group changes over time, between-group differences at the same time points, and interactions between time and groups. These findings are consistent with the results of Tsay [
22], Yun & Choi [
21], and Park & Kim [
35]. Tsay [
22] and Yun & Choi [
21] implemented face-to-face interventions, while Park & Kim [
35] predominantly used applications and SMS for interventions. This suggests that the effects of not only face-to-face programs but also non-face-to-face interventions, such as applications and SMS, can be confirmed. However, studies that implemented face-to-face intervention [
9], non-face-to-face interventions (video) [
39], and Cho & Park [
49] did not find significant results. IDWG, which is utilized as an objective indicator of dietary management among HD patients, can be influenced by seasons or temperature [
51], and in cases where the average weight gain of the study participants is within the normal range, significant differences may not be observed [
39]. Additionally, younger age has been associated with greater IDWG [
52], and being unmarried has been identified as a predictive factor for treatment non-adherence [
53]. Despite these limitations, including IDWG as an objective indicator is considered desirable since evaluating program effects based solely on subjective indicators can introduce errors due to self-reporting.
The results of applying the dietary self-care promotion program showed significant differences in serum phosphorus and serum potassium in terms of within-group changes over time, between-group differences at the same time points, and interactions between time and groups. This aligns with the findings of Milazi et al. [
54] and Reese et al. [
55], however, caution is needed when comparing effects as their study participants were hyperphosphatemia patients. Nevertheless, Milazi et al. [
54] reported not only a decrease in serum phosphorus but also a significant increase in self-efficacy for chronic disease management, aligning with the context of our study. Baraz et al.’s [
50] study confirmed a decrease in phosphorus levels in both face-to-face and non-face-to-face interventions (video education), and a similar effect was observed in the study by Park & Kim [
35], where non-face-to-face intervention played a predominant role. In contrast, serum potassium, which did not show a significant decrease in many studies attempting dietary intervention [
21,
39,
50], demonstrated a significant decrease in Kim & Choi [
9]. Kim & Choi [
9] conducted needs assessments and provided a program tailored to participants’ demands, including individual counseling, suggesting that the observed significant effect in their study could be attributed to meeting the participants’ requirements, supporting the context similarity with our study.
The main causes of an increase in serum phosphorus and serum potassium levels are primarily excessive intake [
6], and managing these levels is challenging with medication alone, necessitating dietary management [
14,
56]. However, HD patients, often elderly, face physical changes such as altered taste perception due to aging, making it more difficult to change lifelong dietary habits [
57,
58]. Moreover, Korean seniors tend to prefer vegetarianism over meat consumption, making potassium regulation more challenging [
59]. Therefore, the significant decrease in serum phosphorus and potassium in this study can be interpreted as a positive effect of program participation, reflecting a reduction in dietary intake.
Limitations of this study include the inability to directly observe and correct the process of actual dietary self-care behavior execution, as the study utilized online communities for non-face-to-face intervention. Secondly, the study employed a pre-post experimental design for the randomized control group, aiming to elevate the level of evidence. However, the lack of blinding for intervention providers may have introduced researcher bias. Thirdly, the relatively young average age of study participants (experimental group: 48.1 years, control group: 49.9 years) and the recruitment of participants active in the HD patient community, who are interested in disease management and proficient in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), may limit the generalizability of study results to the entire population of HD patients.