Innovative mobile technology alcohol education for young people with type 1 diabetes

Abstract

Views of young people with type 1 diabetes are vital in developing quality services and improving health‐related quality of life (HRQoL), yet research on their lifestyle and use of web and mobile technology to support their condition and in non‐health related areas is sparse. The aim of this research was to develop an insight into young people's current use of web and mobile technology and its potential impact on HRQoL by constructing an in‐depth picture of their day‐to‐day experiences, exploring how they made use of technology in their lives and in relation to their condition and treatment – then, building something to help them. Data were collected by semi‐structured, in‐depth qualitative interviews (n=9) of young people with type 1 diabetes and aged 18–21 years. Interviews were transcribed and loaded onto NVivo for theme identification. Data analysis was also undertaken during initial interviews (n=4) to locate potential ideas for technical development. Latter interviews (n=5) assisted in the iterative sociotechnical design process. Three suggestions for improvement were taken forward for prototyping with one – an alcohol education guide – being developed into a clinically approved app. This article documents the procedures and sociotechnical design principles involved in the creation of a patient‐centric app. It provides an innovative example of how education with the aim of improving HRQoL can be designed in a way which meets the needs of a particular group and values and encourages their input to assist in the creative process, while at the same time conforming to clinical guidelines. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons.

Patient-Centered Methods for Designing and Developing Health Information Communication Technologies: A Systematic Review

“…Most studies (39%) included £15 participants. 13,21,[34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53] Fourteen studies had >15 but <25 participants, [54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67] and 14 studies had between 26 and 59 participants. [68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81] Three studies described the population but did not include the number of participants.…”

Mobile Applications for Patient-centered Care Coordination: A Review of Human Factors Methods Applied to their Design, Development, and Evaluation

“…Twelve of the 15 papers describing the process of design or development of an app adopted a human factors approach. The most frequently used methods were interviews and surveys, which often included an exploration of participants' current use of information technology, including mobile apps [11,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Some studies included multiple components and methods, often generating rich data on patients' views and use.…”

“…In another study that adopted a participatory design approach for a diabetes app [16], researchers initially held in-depth semi-structured interviews with their target users (young people aged 18-21 with diabetes) to understand their everyday experience of diabetes and to explore their current use and views of technology. Based on interview findings, several requirements were identified and three prototype applications were developed: 1) an app to educate patients on diabetes in general, 2) an app to educate patients on alcohol use in diabetes, and 3) an app to educate patients on hypoglycemia.…”

“…Based on user input, the app for alcohol education was selected for final development. Feedback from patients and clinic staff was incorporated into subsequent iterations of the mobile application until developers were confident that the product was user friendly and met all user needs [16].…”

The Role of Mobile Applications in Improving Alcohol Health Literacy in Young Adults With Type 1 Diabetes

“…Only 1 app, T1D Friend: Alcohol Guide, was specifically designed to increase alcohol health literacy and support safe consumption of alcohol in T1DM. 13 It provides information on how to recognize and manage a hypo. Nine of 10 apps were not T1DM-specific and did not provide information specific to the risks of alcohol for people with T1DM.…”