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Letters to Medical Devices: A Case Study on the Medical Device User Requirements of Female Adolescents and Young Adults with Type 1 Diabetes

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Persuasive Technology: Development and Implementation of Personalized Technologies to Change Attitudes and Behaviors (PERSUASIVE 2017)

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Abstract

Adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes are required to use a variety of persuasive medical technologies to manage their health. However, adolescents’ experiences with and preferences regarding these technologies, and the implications these have on self-management are not broadly recognised. In this case study six female adolescents and young adults wrote love letters or break-up letters to one of their medical devices. Four categories were constructed from a grounded theory analysis of the letters and follow-up interviews: acquiring and changing medical devices, requiring convenience and practicality for everyday contexts, collecting and using data, and corresponding with preferences and values. Young people are often excluded from research and development regarding medical devices, yet this method was successful in identifying experiences and preferences to inform the design of medical devices.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Pharmac, the New Zealand Government drug purchasing and funding agency who choose which medical devices and consumables are subsidised moved to a single supplier arrangement for blood glucose monitors and test strips in 2013.

    .

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Design, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

    Gillian M. McCarthy & Edgar R. Rodríguez Ramírez

  2. Graduate School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

    Brian J. Robinson

Authors
  1. Gillian M. McCarthy
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  2. Edgar R. Rodríguez Ramírez
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  3. Brian J. Robinson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gillian M. McCarthy .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Peter W. de Vries

  2. University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Harri Oinas-Kukkonen

  3. University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Liseth Siemons

  4. University de Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Nienke Beerlage-de Jong

  5. University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Lisette van Gemert-Pijnen

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McCarthy, G.M., Rodríguez Ramírez, E.R., Robinson, B.J. (2017). Letters to Medical Devices: A Case Study on the Medical Device User Requirements of Female Adolescents and Young Adults with Type 1 Diabetes. In: de Vries, P., Oinas-Kukkonen, H., Siemons, L., Beerlage-de Jong, N., van Gemert-Pijnen, L. (eds) Persuasive Technology: Development and Implementation of Personalized Technologies to Change Attitudes and Behaviors. PERSUASIVE 2017. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 10171. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55134-0_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55134-0_6

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-55133-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-55134-0

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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