How patient work changes over time for people with multimorbid type 2 diabetes: qualitative study

Kathleen Yin; Joshua Jung; Enrico Coiera; Kenneth W. K. Ho; Sanjyot Vagholkar; Ann Blandford; Frances Rapport; Annie Y. S. Lau

doi:10.2196/25992

How patient work changes over time for people with multimorbid type 2 diabetes: qualitative study

Kathleen Yin^*, Joshua Jung, Enrico Coiera, Kenneth W. K. Ho, Sanjyot Vagholkar, Ann Blandford, Frances Rapport, Annie Y. S. Lau

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

88 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Background: The experiences of patients change throughout their illness trajectory and differ according to their medical history, but digital support tools are often designed for one specific moment in time and do not change with the patient as their health state changes. This presents a fragmented support pattern where patients have to move from one app to another as they move between health states, and some subpopulations of patients do not have their needs addressed at all.

Objective: This study aims to investigate how patient work evolves over time for those living with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic multimorbidity, and explore the implications for digital support system design.

Methods: In total, 26 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic multimorbidity were recruited. Each interview was conducted twice, and interviews were transcribed and analyzed according to the Chronic Illness Trajectory Model.

Results: Four unique illness trajectories were identified with different patient work goals and needs: living with stable chronic conditions involves patients seeking to make patient work as routinized and invisible as possible; dealing with cycles of acute or crisis episodes included heavily multimorbid patients who sought support with therapy adherence; responding to unstable changes described patients currently experiencing rapid health changes and increasing patient work intensity; and coming back from crisis focused on patients coping with a loss of normalcy.

Conclusions: Patient work changes over time based on the experiences of the individual, and its timing and trajectory need to be considered when designing digital support interventions.

International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): RR2-10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022163

Original language	English
Article number	e25992
Pages (from-to)	1-13
Number of pages	13
Journal	Journal of Medical Internet Research
Volume	23
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.2196/25992
Publication status	Published - 15 Jul 2021

Bibliographical note

Copyright the Author(s) 2021. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

Keywords

patient work
self-management
diabetes
chronic conditions
chronic illness trajectory
consumer informatics

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10.2196/25992Licence: CC BY

Publisher version (open access)Final published version, 410 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "How patient work changes over time for people with multimorbid type 2 diabetes: qualitative study",

abstract = "Background: The experiences of patients change throughout their illness trajectory and differ according to their medical history, but digital support tools are often designed for one specific moment in time and do not change with the patient as their health state changes. This presents a fragmented support pattern where patients have to move from one app to another as they move between health states, and some subpopulations of patients do not have their needs addressed at all. Objective: This study aims to investigate how patient work evolves over time for those living with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic multimorbidity, and explore the implications for digital support system design. Methods: In total, 26 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic multimorbidity were recruited. Each interview was conducted twice, and interviews were transcribed and analyzed according to the Chronic Illness Trajectory Model. Results: Four unique illness trajectories were identified with different patient work goals and needs: living with stable chronic conditions involves patients seeking to make patient work as routinized and invisible as possible; dealing with cycles of acute or crisis episodes included heavily multimorbid patients who sought support with therapy adherence; responding to unstable changes described patients currently experiencing rapid health changes and increasing patient work intensity; and coming back from crisis focused on patients coping with a loss of normalcy. Conclusions: Patient work changes over time based on the experiences of the individual, and its timing and trajectory need to be considered when designing digital support interventions. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): RR2-10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022163",

keywords = "patient work, self-management, diabetes, chronic conditions, chronic illness trajectory, consumer informatics",

author = "Kathleen Yin and Joshua Jung and Enrico Coiera and Ho, \{Kenneth W. K.\} and Sanjyot Vagholkar and Ann Blandford and Frances Rapport and Lau, \{Annie Y. S.\}",

note = "Copyright the Author(s) 2021. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.",

year = "2021",

month = jul,

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doi = "10.2196/25992",

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AU - Ho, Kenneth W. K.

AU - Vagholkar, Sanjyot

AU - Blandford, Ann

AU - Rapport, Frances

AU - Lau, Annie Y. S.

N1 - Copyright the Author(s) 2021. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

PY - 2021/7/15

Y1 - 2021/7/15

N2 - Background: The experiences of patients change throughout their illness trajectory and differ according to their medical history, but digital support tools are often designed for one specific moment in time and do not change with the patient as their health state changes. This presents a fragmented support pattern where patients have to move from one app to another as they move between health states, and some subpopulations of patients do not have their needs addressed at all. Objective: This study aims to investigate how patient work evolves over time for those living with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic multimorbidity, and explore the implications for digital support system design. Methods: In total, 26 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic multimorbidity were recruited. Each interview was conducted twice, and interviews were transcribed and analyzed according to the Chronic Illness Trajectory Model. Results: Four unique illness trajectories were identified with different patient work goals and needs: living with stable chronic conditions involves patients seeking to make patient work as routinized and invisible as possible; dealing with cycles of acute or crisis episodes included heavily multimorbid patients who sought support with therapy adherence; responding to unstable changes described patients currently experiencing rapid health changes and increasing patient work intensity; and coming back from crisis focused on patients coping with a loss of normalcy. Conclusions: Patient work changes over time based on the experiences of the individual, and its timing and trajectory need to be considered when designing digital support interventions. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): RR2-10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022163

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KW - consumer informatics

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ER -

How patient work changes over time for people with multimorbid type 2 diabetes: qualitative study

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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Centre of Research Excellence in Digital Health (CREDiH)

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How patient work changes over time for people with multimorbid type 2 diabetes: qualitative study

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

Centre of Research Excellence in Digital Health (CREDiH)

Cite this