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Although child participation is required for successful Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) management, it is challenging because the child’s young age and immaturity make it difficult to perform self-care. Thus, parental caregivers are expected to be heavily involved in their child’s everyday illness management. Our study aims to investigate how children and parents collaborate to manage T1D and examine how the children become more independent in their self-management through the support of their parents. Through semi-structured interviews with children with T1D and their parents (N=41), our study showed that children’s knowledge of illness management and motivation for self-care were crucial for their transition towards independence. Based on these two factors, we identified four types of children’s collaboration (i.e., dependent, resistant, eager, and independent) and parents’ strategies for supporting their children’s independence. We suggest design implications for technologies to support collaborative care by improving children’s transition to independent illness management.
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Shared Responsibility in Collaborative Tracking for Children with Type 1 Diabetes and their Parents
Efficient Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) management necessitates comprehensive tracking of various factors that influence blood sugar levels. However, tracking health data for children with T1D poses unique challenges, as it requires the active involvement of both children and their parents. This study aims to uncover the benefits, challenges, and strategies associated with collaborative tracking for children (ages 6-12) with T1D and their parents. Over a three-week data collection probe study with 22 child-parent pairs, we found that collaborative tracking, characterized by the shared responsibility of tracking management and data provision, yielded positive outcomes for both children and their parents. Drawing from these findings, we delineate four distinct tracking approaches: child-independent, child-led, parent-led, and parent-independent. Our study offers insights for designing health technologies that empower both children and parents in learning and encourage the sharing of different perspectives through collaborative tracking.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1942547
- PAR ID:
- 10515071
- Editor(s):
- Mueller, Florian Floyd; Kyburz, Penny; Williamson, Julie R; Sas, Corina; Wilson, Max L; Dugas, Phoebe Toups; Shklovski, Irina
- Publisher / Repository:
- ACM
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
- ISSN:
- 13-1921358
- ISBN:
- 9798400703300
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Honolulu HI USA
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript
- Conference Proceeding:
- https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904
