Enhancing System Acceptance through User-Centred Design: Integrating Patient Generated Wellness Data.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a condition that appears during pregnancy and is expected to be a temporary one. While patients are encouraged to manage it themselves, research findings indicate that GDM may negatively affect the foetus; in addition, there is an increased risk of women with GDM subsequently developing Type 2 diabetes. To alleviate the risks, women with GDM are advised to maintain a record of their diet and blood glucose levels and to attend regular clinical reviews. Rather than using a paper diary, women with GDM can maintain a record of their blood glucose level readings and other relevant data using a wellness mobile application (app). However, such apps are developed for general use and may not meet the specific needs of clinical staff (physicians, dietitians, obstetricians and midwives) involved in managing GDM; for example, an app may record glucose readings but not the details of a meal taken before or after the glucose reading. Second, the apps do not permanently store the data generated by the patient and do not support the transfer of these data to a clinical system or information portal. The mobile health (mHealth) system designed and developed in this research allows one to integrate different types of user generated wellness data into a centralised database. A user-centered design (UCD) approach informed by the technology acceptance model (TAM) was adopted. This paper investigates and evaluates the effectiveness of the approach with regard to facilitating system acceptance and future adoption through an early focus on enhancing system usefulness and ease of use. The functional system requirements of the proposed system were refined through a series of interviews with the perspective of clinical users; ease-of-use and usability issues were resolved through 'think aloud' sessions with clinicians and GDM patients.

Acceptance of Using an Ecosystem of Mobile Apps for Use in Diabetes Clinic for Self-Management of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus.

Mobile applications (apps) for self-management of diseases such as diabetes and for general well-being, including keeping track of food, diet, and exercise, are widely available. However, consumers face a flood of new mobile apps in the app stores and have no guidance from clinicians about choosing the appropriate app. As much as clinicians would like to support a patient-centered approach and promote health and wellness mobile apps, they may be unable to provide advice due to the lack of comprehensive and reliable app reviews. This research reviewed a selection of health and wellness mobile apps suitable for the self-management of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). A prototype of an ecosystem that integrated the data generated by the apps was built and its usefulness and ease of use were evaluated. The results show that the ecosystem can provide support for GDM self-management by sharing health and wellness data across the diabetes clinic.