Children And Mobile Applications: How to Effectively Design and Create a Concept Mobile Application to Aid in the Management of Type 1 Diabetes In Adolescents

The emergence of healthcare applications (apps) over recent years has led to increased interest regarding the positive and negative impact of apps as effective healthcare aids. This has in turn highlighted the importance of a patient-centric and -tested approach when designing and implementing apps to effectively educate and subsequently aid in the management of chronic illness. Adherence to Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) medication is extremely low in adolescents, with statistics reporting 50 - 88% of non-adherence to medication in this age group. The current literature shows that adolescents are the hardest group of patients with diabetes to be educated in adhering to their medication. Therefore, this study focused on the research, design and development of an interactive concept mobile app aimed at adolescents, aged between 11 and 16 years old. The aim of this was to help adolescent patient’s understand the anatomy, pathology and implications of T1DM, including the importance of self-care and insulin management. This approach combined research into current gaming trends and the most pressing psychological issues impacting on the education of adolescent patients. Relevant literature surrounding the use of mobile health apps to aid in the improvement of medication adherence for T1DM adolescents was reviewed and used to aid in the design of a concept mobile app. In collaboration with Costello Medical Consulting Ltd., a leading medical communications company providing scientific support to the healthcare industry, the game engine Unity3D© was used to create a prototype of the app, taking into consideration elements such as colour, navigation, language and visuals appropriate for the target audience. Through the development of avatars and the creation of a goal and reward system, a prototype was created of what could be used for a fully interactive app for this patient group. We shall present how the development of a wireframe aided the process of developing an app for the potential use by adolescent patient’s with T1DM. Early stage usability testing provided positive feedback regarding the visual appearance and navigation throughout the app. Further development of the concept app, along with usability testing with the target audience are required to aid in the improvement of T1DM adolescents adherence to medication