ESPE Abstracts (2015) 84 P-2-257

aUniversity Hospital Lausanne (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland; bChildren’s Hospital Lausanne (HeL), Lausanne, Switzerland


Background: For young adults with type 1 diabetes, transition from a paediatric setting to an adult care setting is a vulnerable period with risks for gaps in care. These emerging adults need to develop skills for managing their diabetes yet it is often challenging to cover all anticipatory guidance topics related to type 1 diabetes. In the context of a structured transition clinic, we hypothesized that by leveraging teens’ facility with technology and marketing/design we could develop a user-friendly mobile health application to facilitate diabetes self-care.

Objective and hypotheses: The aim of this project was to develop a mobile health application (e-book) to promote self-care for emerging adults with type 1 diabetes and assess its acceptability.

Method: Development of the e-book was loosely structured on McGuire’s communication-persuasion matrix (1998) that posits 6 factors impact consumer behaviour in response to messages. Chapters (i.e. 1–2 page lay texts) were developed by a multidisciplinary team (both paediatric/adult) focusing on young adult topics and a design team helped develop e-book graphics and branding. Healthcare providers and transition patients were surveyed on acceptability.

Results: We identified 28 topics (e-book chapters) spanning type 1 diabetes knowledge, self-management and anticipatory guidance for young adults. The six persuading factors include: source (expert stakeholders), message (diabetes education via stylized e-book), channel (private, tablet/smartphone), receiver (16–25 years, tech savvy), and destination (effective health promotion communication). Initial acceptability ratings from providers within a pluridisciplinary team were high and analysis of patient feedback is onging.

Conclusion: We successfully developed a novel e-book specifically targeted to the needs of young adults with type 1 diabetes. Acceptability of this e-book underscores the utility of a mobile health intervention that can be used privately as a real-time health promotion resource for facilitating self-care.

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