APP USE AND PATIENT EMPOWERMENT IN DIABETES SELF-MANAGEMENT. ADVANCING THEORY-GUIDED MHEALTH RESEARC

1. Introduction
2. Background on Diabetes Self-Management
3. Defining and Categorizing Diabetes Apps for Self-Management
4. Diabetes App Use – Previous mHealth Research
5. Anteceding Factors of Diabetes App Use
6. Summarizing mHealth Research Gaps I: Alternative Theory is Needed
7. Empowerment as an Antecedent of Diabetes App Use
8. Summarizing mHealth Research Gaps II: Empowerment and Diabetes App Use
9. Summarizing Model on Empowerment and Diabetes App Use
10. Research Questions and Hypotheses
11. Overview of the Research Design
12. Study 1 – Diabetes App Features Corresponding to Indicators of Empowerment: An App Feature and Quality Analysis
13. Study 2 – Interviews on App Use for Diabetes Self-Management and the Relevance of Empowerment
14. Study 3 – An Online Survey on Empowerment as an Antecedent of Diabetes App Use
15. Discussion and Deriving Research Gaps
16. Learning from Research Results – Implications for Research and Diabetes Care Practice
17. Summarizing Research Limitations
18. Conclusion

Patient empowerment is examined as a multi-dimensional factor influencing the use of diabetes self-management apps. The research design includes three studies conducted in Singapore. Study 1 examines how features of diabetes self-management apps correspond with theoretical indicators of empowerment, as well as app quality. Study 2 uses semi-structured face-to-face interviews with diabetes patients to draw first conclusions about the relevance of empowerment for diabetes app use. Study 3 includes an online patient survey, and uses cluster analytical methods to test the preliminary Study 2 results (typology of app use), as well as binary logistic regression to compare the strength of influence of various anteceding factors on the likelihood of diabetes app use. The studies show that especially the support by private social patient networks and the medical specialties of supervising physicians play a crucial role for technology-supported self-management.

Features
Diabetes Apps for Self-Management

Author
Dr. Nicola Brew-Sam holds an MA in health communication (UZH Zurich) and a Ph.D. from University of Erfurt (Germany) in cooperation with Nanyang Technological University (Singapore).