Digital Person-Centered Self-Management Support for People With Type 2 Diabetes: Qualitative Study Exploring Design Challenges

Abstract

Background Self-management is a substantial part of treatment for patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Modern digital technology, being small, available, and ubiquitous, might work well in supporting self-management. This study follows the process of developing a pilot implementation of an electronic health (eHealth) service for T2D self-management support in primary health care. The use of digital health, or eHealth, solutions for supporting self-management for patients with T2D is increasing. There are good examples of successful implementations that can serve as guides in the development of new solutions. However, when adding person-centered principles as a requirement, the examples are scarce. Objective The objective of this study was to explore challenges that could impact the design of a person-centered eHealth service for T2D self-management support. The study included data collection from multiple sources, that is, interviews, observations, focus groups, and a Mentimeter (interactive presentation with polling) survey among stakeholders, representing various perspectives of T2D. Methods A user-centered design approach was used to exploratively collect data from different sources. Data were collected from a workshop, interviews, and observations. The different data sources enabled a triangulation of data. Results Results show that user needs related to an eHealth service for person-centered T2D self-management support are multifaceted and situated in a complex context. The two main user groups, patients and diabetes specialist nurses, express needs that both diverge and converge, which indicates that critical design decisions have to be made. There is also a discrepancy between the needs expressed by the potential users and the current work practice, suggesting more attention toward changing the organization of work to fully support a new eHealth service. Conclusions A total of three overarching challenges—flexible access, reducing administrative tasks, and patient empowerment—each having a significant impact on design, are discussed. These challenges need to be considered and resolved through careful design decisions. Special attention has to be given to the patient user group that could greatly impact current work practice and power structures at the primary care unit. A need for further studies investigating patient needs in everyday life is identified to better support the implementation of technology that does not give specific attention to organizational perspectives but instead approach design with the patient perspective in focus.