Continuing the quality improvement of an electronic personal health record and interactive website for people with diabetes in Scotland (My Diabetes My Way)
Cathy Shields1 | Nicholas T. Conway2 | Brian Allardice1 | Deborah J. Wake3 | Scott G. Cunningham1
Diabetic Medicine. 2023;40:e15085.
Received: 17 January 2022 Accepted: 3 March 2023
DOI: 10.1111/dme.15085
Abstract
Aims: eHealth applications have the potential to enable patients to take greater control over managing their own health, helping to delay and prevent complications. My Diabetes My Way (MDMW) is an electronic personal health record and educational platform available to people with diabetes in Scotland. This study aims to assess user experience across demographic subgroups, examine the effectiveness of previous platform improvements, and inform ongoing development.
Methods: All active MDMW users (n = 22,665) were invited to participate in a questionnaire combining Likert-scale and free-response items relating to system utility. Likert responses were used to generate a “utility score,” which was analysed using regression models to determine predictors of system utility scoring. Free-response answers were analysed thematically and key themes were identified.
Results: A total of 4,713 MDMW users (21%) responded to the questionnaire. Most respondents agreed that MDMW helped them to track changes over time, prepare for face-to-face consultations, remember information discussed during consultations, and reduced the need to contact their general practitioner. Free-response answers indicated that users valued earlier enhancements made to the platform (e.g. linking Fitbit data) and highlighted areas requiring further improvement. Evidence of a “digital divide” was observed in respondent demographics, and some users cited a lack of digital skills as a barrier to engaging with the platform.
Conclusions: User experience of MDMW was positive, with respondents agreeing that the platform facilitates diabetes self-management. Several areas for potential improvement were identified, including linking additional wearable device data and supporting users to develop the digital skills required to engage fully with MDMW.
Author affiliations
1 Division of Population Health and Genomics, School of Medicine, Ninewells Hospital, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 9SY, UK
2 Tayside Children’s Hospital, Ninewells hospital, MACHS Building, Dundee, DD1 9SY, UK
3 Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, NINE, 9 Little France Road, Edinburgh BioQuarter, Edinburgh, EH16 4UX, UK
Correspondence
Cathy Shields, Division of Population Health and Genomics, School of Medicine, Ninewells Hospital, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 9SY, UK.
Email: c.v.shields@dundee.ac.uk
Funding information
Scottish Government
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. © 2023 The Authors. Diabetic Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Diabetes UK.