MAHI: investigation of social scaffolding for reflective thinking in diabetes management

In the recent years, the number of individuals engaged in self-care of chronic diseases has grown exponentially. Advances in computing technologies help individuals with chronic diseases collect unprecedented volumes of healthrelated data. However, engaging in reflective analysis of the collected data may be challenging for the untrained individuals. We present MAHI, a health monitoring application that assists newly diagnosed individuals with diabetes in acquiring and developing reflective thinking skills through social interaction with diabetes educators. The deployment study with twenty five newly diagnosed individuals with diabetes demonstrated that MAHI significantly contributed to individuals' achievement of their diabetes management goals (changing diet). More importantly, MAHI inspired individuals to adopt Internal Locus of Control, which often leads to persistent engagement in self-care and positive health outcomes. General Terms Design, Human Factors Keywords Health car...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2008
• Where: CHI
• Authors: Lena Mamykina, Elizabeth D. Mynatt, Patricia Davidson, Daniel Greenblatt
• Keywords: CHI 2008, Human Computer Interaction, MAHI Inspired Individuals, Technologies Help Individuals, Untrained Individuals