Empowering Diabetes Patient with Mobile Health Technologies

Abstract

Chronic diseases, especially diabetes mellitus, are huge public health burden. Therefore, new health care models for sharing the responsibility for care among health care providers and patients themselves are needed. The concept of empowerment promotes patient's active involvement and control over their own health. It can be achieved through education, self-management, and shared decision making. "ll these aspects can be covered by mobile health technologies, the so-called mHealth. This term comprises mobile phones, patient monitoring devices, tablets, personal digital assistants, other wireless devices, and numerous apps. Many challenges of diabetics can be addressed by mHealth, including glycemic control, nutrition control, physical activity, high blood pressure, medication adherence, obesity, education, diabetic retinopathy screening, diabetic foot screening, and psychosocial care. However, mHealth plays only minor role in diabetes management, despite numerous apps on the market. Namely, these apps have many shortcomings and the majority of them does not include important functions. Moreover, these apps lack the perceived additional benefit by the user and the ease of use, important factors for acceptance of mHealth. Studies of diabetes apps regarding usability and accessibility have shown moderate results. "eside improvements of apps usability, the future of diabetes mHealth lies probably in personalized education and self-management with the help of decision support systems. "t the same time, work on artificial pancreas is in progress and smartphone could be used as user interface.

How Do Smart Device Apps for Diabetes Self-Management Correspond with Theoretical Indicators of Empowerment? An Analysis of App Features

“…Despite literature discussing the potential of apps for diabetes self-management (46), specific conclusions for empowerment, lacking empirical evidence, rarely go beyond general overviews (45;47), or are not based on a comprehensive theoretical explication (e.g., 48). Most diabetes-related mHealth projects focusing on empowerment are of applied character and/or do not have much explanatory value (48–50).…”

“…For example, Park et al (51) found that empowerment could occur when T2DM patients shared information or received social support using their mobile devices, when patients realized the outcomes of mHealth supported activities, or when the mobile devices were used for improved activity planning. Krošel et al suggest that mHealth is “(…) offering different means for introduction of the concept of empowerment into patients’ everyday life” (47, p. 35), yet conclude it still plays a minor role in diabetes self-management, with apps lacking perceived benefit and ease of use.…”

Empowerment in the Treatment of Diabetes and Obesity

“…Theoretically all aspects of empowerment including education, self-management, and shared decision-making can be covered by mobile health technologies, so-called mHealth [51]. For example, a mobile-phone-based tool to capture and visualize food intake was effective in empowerment of young people with type 1 diabetes with their diet [52].…”

RSSDI-ESI clinical practice recommendations for the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus 2020

“…Examples include Life in Control, Medios Technologies AI assistant to detect diabetic retinopathy, mySugr etc. [ 95 795 796 797 ] Diabetes technologies are meant for saving the time and better short term and long term outcomes. Choice should depend on the knowledge, infrastructure and the need.…”