A generalized Diabetes Networking Tool (DNT) to enhance social support for patient self management

Abstract We propose to develop a social computing technology called the Diabetes Networking ToolDNTthat enhances Type II Diabetes and pre diabetes patientsability to self manage and avoid disease complications by bolstering familyhouseholdand community based support mechanismsType II Diabetes Mellitus is a life long condition that is a serious and growing public health problemand that requires constant self management by the patient to avoid dangerous complicationsPrior research by the research team and others indicates that a Type II diabetes patient s social network can help a patient improve self management and developed a demonstration smart phone app around this conceptFamily and community relationships influence an individual s ability to make successful diabetes related behavior changeand thus the success of self managementThese relationships can provide positive reinforcement and personal encouragement for key activities such as adherence to medication and blood testing schedules and getting exerciseThis proposal seeks to expand the prior research and translate it into a commercial grade DNT product that will leverage these family and community resources through a fully developed smartphone appDNT allows a patient to create a private local social network of household family friends that can support the patient with her his diabetes self management behaviorssuch as adhering to medication and glucose testing schedulesfinding people to exercise withand sharing of information such as food shopping tips and positive social reinforcementDNT also gives the patient access to local community resourcesuses geo fencing technologyand allows location specific informatione ghealthy grocery saleshealth fairsto be posted and sharedGaming features to be developedsuch as earning badges and participating in social challengescan increase engagement and frequency of useOur team brings a unique combination of leaders and experts in user centered and social computing and behavioral science researchPhase I Aims are toDefine needs and opportunities for DNT social support using participatory design methods within asample of diverse middle and low income communitiesDesign the DNT user interface and develop a complete DNT app prototypeConduct initial formative assessment of the prototype DNT for usability and perceived usefulnessThe full DNT product can improve diabetes related self managementas well as increase scientific understanding of how an augmented social support system can benefit diabetes management and potentially reduce disease complications Narrative Diabetes is a growing and costly public health problem that requires patient self managementSocial relationships can support successful self managementWe propose to design and test a smartphone app that uses social networking technology to help family and friends of people with TypeDiabetes support those patients in improving their diabetes self management and avoiding potential complications from this disease