Managing Personal Health Information in the Home: Strategies of Diabetes Patients in the US and China

摘要

People around the world have developed many strategies tornthrive with diabetes by harnessing health information aboutrnthemselves and the health condition in general. This studyrnexamines the information management strategies (i.e., whatrnpeople do with the information they gathered) employed byrndiabetes patients and how these strategies help them reachrntheir health outcome goals. We conducted semi-structuredrnone-on-one interviews and photo-documentation with 52rnpeople living with type 1 or type 2 diabetes in the US and inrnChina. These participants introduced us to a wide variety ofrninformation management strategies that take advantage ofrnspace, people and technology. Many of these strategiesrninvolve intricate data mining, information visualization,rnspace and technology connectivity management, artwork,rnand other skills and techniques that are not well supportedrnby existing tools, services and the social contexts. Ourrnfindings suggest that the personal information managementrnactivities observed in previous studies are not independentrnof one another. Strategies, or a personalized collection ofrninformation management activities and information items,rncan be just as important as their individual parts. Also, USrnparticipants reported performing different strategies atrndifferent frequencies compared to their Chineserncounterparts, supporting that social contexts can influencernhow people manage their information. These findings canrnpoint to important directions of future developments inrntechnology and health care services, as well as theirrnapplication in various social contexts.