Personal Goals, Barriers to Self-Management and Desired mHealth Application Features to Improve Self-Care in Multi-Ethnic Asian Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Qualitative Study

Sungwon Yoon (), Yu Heng Kwan, Jie Kie Phang, Wee Boon Tan and Lian Leng Low
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Sungwon Yoon: Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore 169857, Singapore
Yu Heng Kwan: Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore 169857, Singapore
Jie Kie Phang: Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore 169857, Singapore
Wee Boon Tan: Centre for Population Health Research and Implementation, SingHealth Regional Health System, Singapore 828815, Singapore
Lian Leng Low: Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore 169857, Singapore

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 22, 1-13

Abstract: (1) Introduction: The ubiquity of mobile phones suggests the potential of mobile health applications to reach patients with type 2 diabetes and engage them to improve self-care. This study aimed to explore personal goals, barriers to self-management and desired mobile health application features to improve self-care among multi-ethnic Asian patients with type 2 diabetes. (2) Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with patients with type 2 diabetes ( n = 29). Patients were recruited from a multi-disciplinary center for diabetes and metabolism in Singapore, using a purposive sampling strategy. Various visual materials, collated from existing mobile health application features, were used to facilitate the discussion. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analyzed. (3) Results: A total of 29 patients participated in 11 focus group discussions or one-on-one interviews. Personal goals for self-management were centered around short-term outcome expectancy, such as better glucose control and a reduced number of medications. Self-management was hampered by competing priorities and limited healthy food options when at work, while a lack of tailored advice from healthcare providers further diminished competence. The desired mobile health app features to improve self-care behaviors included quantifiable goal-setting, personalized nudges based on tracked data, built-in resources from credible sources, in-app social support through virtual interaction with peers and healthcare providers, technology-driven novel data logging and user-defined nudges. (4) Conclusions: We identified a set of app features that may foster motivation to engage in lifestyle modification for patients with T2DM. The findings serve to inform the design of artificial intelligence-enabled mobile health application intervention aimed at improving diabetes self-care.

Keywords: diabetes mellitus; self-management; mobile health application; personal goal; barriers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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