Development and Evaluation of a Universally Designed App to Support Self Directed Diabetes Education and Self Management for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities

While research shows there is an increasing incidence of diabetes in Americans, there is also a compelling body of research showing that individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) are even more likely to suffer the effects of diabetes, which include increased risk of heart disease, stroke, infections, blindness and kidney failure. The World Health Organization reports that 50% of people with diabetes die of cardiovascular disease, and the overall risk of dying among people with diabetes is at least double the risk of their peers without diabetes. The literature further emphasizes the roles of education and self-management as key interventions in managing the disease. However, due to literacy deficits and a lifelong lack of opportunities to practice self direction, individuals with ID have not had the opportunity to utilize these key interventions. Therefore, this project proposes research, development and evaluation of a universally designed educational and prompting software application that integrates extensive multimedia and proven interface design techniques for independent usability by people with ID. Phase I will develop and evaluate the technical merit and feasibility of the approach by developing a prototype of the educational module and testing it for usability and efficacy for promoting diabetes knowledge retention for individuals with ID.