User Requirements for Prediabetes Self-care Application: A Healthcare Professional Perspective

Dhillon

Ahmad

2021

IJERPH

Self Cite

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a chronic condition that can lead to many life-threatening diseases. Prediabetes is defined as a state in which blood glucose levels are elevated but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. This stage can be reversible with appropriate lifestyle and dietary modifications. Existing solutions are mostly developed to deal with T2D instead of preventing it in the first place. In this study, we propose a framework to aid in the development of self-care systems to prevent T2D, which integrates behavioral change theories and techniques and offers features, such as goal setting, activity planning, and health monitoring. We then assessed the feasibility of a prediabetes self-care system designed based on the proposed framework. Quantitative and qualitative methods were adopted in evaluating i-PreventDiabetes, a prototype. Numerous aspects of the prototype were evaluated, including (1) its effectiveness in assisting individuals with prediabetes in improving their health management behaviors, (2) its effect on users’ attitudes toward diabetes prevention, (3) users’ motivation levels, (4) user acceptability of the system, and (5) user experience. Users viewed i-PreventDiabetes positively and experienced a positive change in their attitude toward their health. Diabetes prevention systems, such as i-PreventDiabetes, have the potential to increase self-care behaviors among individuals with prediabetes, enabling them to manage their lifestyle and nutrition more effectively to avert a variety of potentially fatal conditions.

Section: Framework Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The BCTs are included as features in the prototype (listed in Table 3). These BCTs/features were identified via discussions with individuals with prediabetes and diabetic patients, as well as healthcare experts [21,23].…”

Section: C5 Maintenancementioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral Theory-Based Framework for Prediabetes Self-Care System—Design Perspectives and Validation Results

Dhillon

Ahmad

2021

IJERPH

Self Cite

“…These theories allow people to be aware of their behaviour towards their health and aid them in achieving their personal health goals. User requirements analysis for a prediabetes self-care application [4,5] and a framework to develop self-care application for prediabetes [6] helped us to develop a functional prototype of i-PreventDiabetes (i-PreDi), a novel and ubiquitous self-care application to empower prediabetics, which integrates behavioural change theories and techniques. Figure 1 illustrates the framework for i-PreDi.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Usability of a Prediabetes Self-Care Application: a Multi-Method Approach

Dhillon²

2018

IJET

Self Cite

Increasing demand for digital technology, worldwide, has unlocked new pathways for diabetes prevention. Health behavioural change theories when integrated in the design of novel health applications can foster effective self-health management and prevention. We developed i-PreventDiabetes, a self-care application for prediabetics, that enables lifestyle monitoring, goal setting and activity planning, which is accessible via both web and mobile. In this study, we evaluated the usability barriers and enablers, and assessed the user experience with the system by using a multi-method approach with 20 participants. This approach includes cognitive walkthrough, think-aloud method, question-asking protocol, System Usability Scale (SUS), User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ), and open-ended questions. The results indicate that the users are satisfied with the concept of preventing diabetes by using a self-care application that includes a variety of functionalities that empowers prediabetics to take charge of their own lifestyle in preventing diabetes.

A framework for developing prediabetes self-care application

2017 International Conference on Research and Innovation in Information Systems (ICRIIS)

Dhillon

Ahmad

et al. 2017

Preventing diabetes at the prediabetes stage is a crucial step to take as the damages done by diabetes is non-reversible. In the recent years, the number of diabetics has been increasing tremendously, which is predominantly due to unhealthy lifestyle and diet. To prevent diabetes, human behaviour needs to be altered: a new positive habit should replace an old habit. Self-care applications have great potential in fostering diabetes prevention. However, existing solutions mostly do not follow clinical guidelines, do not incorporate user expectations, are aimed to deliver a specific functionality (such as weight management), are not designed based on behavioural change theories, and therefore they are not designed for long term use. Integrating health behavioural change theories and the prediabetics' requirements into the development of self-care applications can empower consumers to better care of their own health. In this paper, we propose a prediabetes self-care application design framework, which incorporates behavioural change theories, and meets requirements of prediabetics. The framework was validated by a pool of health-related experts from various fields. Results indicate that the framework comprised necessary functions that would enable prediabetes to prevent diabetes. The framework would aid developers to design novel prediabetes applications that would enable users to take greater responsibility towards their health, which in return helps to save medical cost.