Can information and communication technology (ICT) enhance diabetes control by increasing self-efficacy?

This project will evaluate ICT tools for supporting self management of diabetes. It will further contribute to development of a theoretical base for such interventions. On a more general level the project will contribute to knowledge about how ICT best ca n be exploited for health promoting and disease preventive purposes. Life style related diseases like diabetes is spreading epidemically in western countries. Monitoring of blood glucose levels, physical activity, and diet with tailored feedback is import ant in preventing or delaying both secondary complications associated with diabetes as well as diabetes type 2 in high risk groups. The necessary life style changes can be difficult to achieve and maintain. There is hence a need for tools to support this. Information and communication technologies (ICT) appear promising in this respect by providing possibilities for individually tailored interventions. Theory based interventions have been proven most effective. We propose the Theory of Planned Behaviour ( TPB) as a theoretical base for interventions aimed at strenghtening diabetes self care. The deegree to which you perceive that you can actually perform a certain behaviour (self-efficacy) as measuring your blood glucose levels regularly, have been found t o be an important predictor of behaviour. Self-efficacy has hence been included as an inportant factor in many health and social psychological models including the TPB. We wish to assess whether ICT tools can increase self-efficacy and thus better diabete s control. These issues will be investigated through two different randomized intervention studies. Questionnaires covering different aspects of the TPB in addition to different health and diabetes care variables will be distributed to the participants be fore, right after, and 3 months after intervention. The current project is complementary to a proposed PhD project in health informatics that will investigate the more technical aspects of such interventions.