Paul Allan P.

Cenabre
MSN I

AAHN3 (DM)
Rosalia

R.

Caazares, MSN

Support for Diabetes Using Technology: A Pilot Study to

Improve Self- Management
Technology is a tool used today to assist people in daily living. The
potential for technological advances as adjuncts to clinical care should be
explored. More so, current studies indicate technology can have a positive
impact on the diabetes self-management.
The people with diabetes find it difficult to sustain adequate selfmanagement behavior. Self-Management Support strategies, including the
use of mobile technology, have shown potential benefit. This study evaluates
the effectiveness of tablet (iPhone iPad) support intervention to improve
health outcomes, access to care and enablement of people with diabetes.
The main purpose of the study was to determine if the use of
application (Diabetes Buddy) on Apple Ipad technology that support diabetes
self-management will increase self-efficacy for self-management, increase
participation in self-management behaviours and improve diabetes outcomes
in persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
The experimental pilot study used a two- group, crossover, repeatedmeasures design, in which a total of 17 adults (19 and older) with type 2
diabetes joined the research study. The researchers limit the pilot study to a
small convenience sample. During the pre-intervention phase, research
obtained data that may limit the effectiveness of the intervention.
Paticipants has a good glycemic control and have high self-efficacy scores. It

is stated in the demographic information that 13 out of the 17 participants

were previously diagnose with type 2 diabetes mellitus for more than 10
years. Given the length of time of diagnosis and their management, this
would be a main reason why most of the participants had high self-efficacy
scores during the pre- intervention measure.
Another limitation of the study was the complexity of using the tablet
(Apple Ipad), participants had hard time in navigating the application, they
have to answer and follow multiple steps to enter a consumed food and
allocating food was difficult. Given the fact that out of 17 participants in the
intervention where 51 and older, this would mean frustration on the
participants part. Some may not previously use a tablet and had difficulty
with basic operation.
Result revealed that Self-efficacy scores for the first iPad group (n= 6)
remained relatively the same scores from the pre-intervention phase to postintervention phase. On the other hand, the second group (n=8) self-efficacy
scores were decreased from pre-intervention to mid-intervention after
logging using the journal and increases after using the iPads. Using a t-test,
analysis of the data revealed that there is no significant difference in the selfefficacy scores between the iPad and journal study groups. However, selfefficacy scores were too high at the baseline, making it too difficult to
identify improvement. Given its limited sample, a larger and more varied
sample size is needed for further evaluation. It was stated that the
researchers

in the future would explore and should identify which

technologies are most effective for the improvement of self-management

and diabetes outcome. Furthermore, other potential uses of the technology
for self-management should be explored.
In general, a growing number of people have the capability and access
to smartphone like tablet and internet (Brenner, 2013 et. Al). As the

technology devices become more accessible, the option for using it for
health particularly in disease management increases. Technology plays
integral part in health care providers. It can be used to supplement
education and support when resources, including time are limited. Nurses
should be knowledgeable about the technological advancement and should
assist patient s to identify technology that can be used to facilitate
management of chronic diseases like diabetes mellitus.