Internet Protocol Television for Personalized Home-Based Health Information: Design-Based Research on a Diabetes Education System

摘要

Background: The use of Internet protocol television (IPTV) as a channel for consumer health information is a relativelyunder-explored area of medical Internet research. IPTV may afford new opportunities for health care service providers to providehealth information and for consumers, patients, and caretakers to access health information. The technologies of Web 2.0 add anew and even less explored dimension to IPTV’s potential.Objective: Our research explored an application of Web 2.0 integrated with IPTV for personalized home-based health informationin diabetes education, particularly for people with diabetes who are not strong computer and Internet users, and thus may missout on Web-based resources. We wanted to establish whether this system could enable diabetes educators to deliver personalizedhealth information directly to people with diabetes in their homes; and whether this system could encourage people with diabeteswho make little use of Web-based health information to build their health literacy via the interface of a home television screenand remote control.Methods: This project was undertaken as design-based research in two stages. Stage 1 comprised a feasibility study into thetechnical work required to integrate an existing Web 2.0 platform with an existing IPTV system, populated with content andimplemented for user trials in a laboratory setting. Stage 2 comprised an evaluation of the system by consumers and providersof diabetes information.Results: The project succeeded in developing a Web 2.0 IPTV system for people with diabetes and low literacies and theirdiabetes educators. The performance of the system in the laboratory setting gave them the confidence to engage seriously inthinking about the actual and potential features and benefits of a more widely-implemented system. In their feedback they pointedout a range of critical usability and usefulness issues related to Web 2.0 affordances and learning fundamentals. They also described their experiences with the system in terms that bode well for its educational potential, and they suggested many constructiveimprovements to the system.Conclusions: The integration of Web 2.0 and IPTV merits further technical development, business modeling, and health servicesand health outcomes research, as a solution to extend the reach and scale of home-based health care.