Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Skip to main content

Development of a web-based insulin decision aid for the elderly: usability barriers and guidelines

  • Long Paper
  • Published:
Universal Access in the Information Society Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In recent years, researchers have attempted to shift patient decision aids (PDAs) from paper-based to web-based to increase its accessibility. Insulin decision aids help diabetes patients, most of whom are elderly to make an informed decision to start insulin. However, the lack of usability guidelines applicable for such target group causes developers to struggle to answer the challenging question ‘How can such web service be made usable, and, ultimately, acceptable and accessible for elderly patients?’. Hence, the purpose of this study is to identify the common usability requirements that may facilitate good practices to empower elderly diabetes patients in utilizing a web-based insulin decision aid for their benefit. We set out an approach to use prototyping and retrospective think-aloud techniques to explore web usability barriers that elderly patients may encounter when using an insulin decision aid web site and use the feedback for improving the prototype. Usability requirements were captured iteratively through scoping, brainstorming, prototype, testing and evaluating. The study suggests that the insights from experts and users are equally important to assure the validity of the identified usability guidelines; they reflect the accessibility needs of the aging community while complementing the key requirements of an insulin decision aid. The study contributes to recommend web usability guidelines backed by a series of expert and user evaluations which could be a proactive resource to improve usability, acceptability and accessibility of online insulin decision aids for elderly with diabetes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Find the latest articles, discoveries, and news in related topics.

References

  1. United Nations: Enhancing the voice of older persons. http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/news/social/older-persons.html (2011). Accessed 20 Dec 2015

  2. World Health Organization: 1 October: International Day of Older Persons Older people: a new power for development. http://www.who.int/ageing/events/idop_rationale/en/index.html (2011). Accessed 20 Dec 2015

  3. Zaharias, P., Koutsabasis, P.: Heuristic evaluation of e-learning: comparing two heuristic sets. J. Campus Wide Inf. Syst. 29(1), 45–60 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Barber, J., Bhatta, S., Goel, A., Jacobson, M., Pearce, M., Penberthy, L., Shankar, M., Simpson, R., Stroulia, E.: AskJef: integration of case-based and multimedia technologies for interface design support. In: Artificial Intelligence in Design’92, pp. 457–475. Springer (1992)

  5. Henninger, S.: A methodology and tools for applying context-specific usability guidelines to interface design. Interact. Comput. 12(3), 225–243 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Lewis, C., Olson, G.: Can principles of cognition lower the barriers to programming? In: Empirical Studies of Programmers: Second Workshop, pp. 248–263. Ablex Publishing Corp (1987)

  7. Domeshek, E. A., Kolodner, J. L.: A case-based design aid for architecture. In: Gero J. (ed.) Artificial Intelligence in Design 92” (1992)

  8. Taylor, R.N., Medvidovic, N., Dashofy, E.M.: Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory and Practice. Wiley Publishing, Chichester (2009)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  9. Holmes-Rovner, M., Nelson, W.L., Pignone, M., Elwyn, G., Rovner, D.R., O’Connor, A.M., Coulter, A., Correa-de-Araujo, R.: Are patient decision aids the best way to improve clinical decision making? Report of the IPDAS Symposium. Med Decis Mak 27, 599–608 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Ng, C.J., Lee, Y.K., Lee, P.Y., Abdullah, K.L.: Health innovations in patient decision support: bridging the gaps and challenges. Aust. Med. J. 6(2), 95 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Hedden, T., Gabrieli, J.D.: Insights into the ageing mind: a view from cognitive neuroscience. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 5(2), 87–96 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Westphal, S.A., Palumbo, P.J.: A case for introducing insulin early in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Insulin 1(2), 65–69 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Zainuddin, N.A., Zulkarnain, A.K., Tahir, A.: Psychological insulin resistance (PIR) among type 2 diabetes patients at public health clinics in federal territory of Malaysia. Int. Med. J. Malays. 10(2), 7–12 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Lee, P. Y., Khoo, E. M., Low, W. Y., Lee, Y. K., Abdullah, K. L., Azmi, S. A., Ng, C. J.: Mismatch between healthcare professionals’ and patients’ views on a diabetes patient decision aid: a qualitative study. Health Expect (2015)

  15. Becker, S.A.: A study of web usability for older adults seeking online health resources. ACM T Comput. Hum. Int. (TOCHI) 11(4), 387–406 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Korytkowski, M.: When oral agents fail: practical barriers to starting insulin. Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord. 26, S18–S24 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Lee, Y.K., Lee, P.K., Ng, C.J.: A qualitative study on healthcare professionals’ perceived barriers to insulin initiation in a multi-ethnic population. BMC Fam. Pract. 13(1), 28 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Hodes, R.J., Lindberg, D.A.: Making Your Web site Senior Friendly. National Institute on Aging and the National Library of Medicine, Washington (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Arch, A.: Web accessibility for older users: a literature review (2010)

  20. Echt, K.V., Morrell, R.W.: Designing web-based health information for older adults: visual considerations and design directives. Older Adults Health Inf. World Wide Web, 61–87 (2002)

  21. Caserta, R.J., Abrams, L.: The relevance of situation awareness in older adults’ cognitive functioning: a review. EUR Rev. Aging Phys. A 4(1), 3–13 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. ISO/IEC: 9241–14 Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals (VDT)s—part 14 Menu dialogues, ISO/IEC 9241-14: 1998 (E) (1998)

  23. Elwyn, G., O’Connor, A.M., Bennett, C., Newcombe, R.G., Politi, M., Durand, M.A., Drake, E., Joseph-Williams, N., Khangura, S., Saarimaki, A., Sivell, S.: Assessing the quality of decision support technologies using the international patient decision aid standards instrument (IPDASi). PLoS One 4(3), e4705 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Ng, C.J., Lee, P.Y., Lee, Y.K., Khoo, E.M., Chen, W.S., Low, W.Y., Abdullah, K.L., Samad, A.A., Azmi, S.A.: Should I Start Insulin? (English), 2nd edn. University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Yahaya, A., Yahaya, N., Ismail, S.: Factors contributing to proficiency in English as a second language among Chinese students in Johor Bahru. Elixir Psychol. 41, 5837–5848 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Hanapiah, M. F.: English language and the language of development: a Malaysian perspective. In: International Conference IPBA, Lembah Pantai, Kuala Lumpur (2002)

  27. Ng, C.J., Lee, Y.K., Lee, P.Y., Abdullah, K.L.: Health innovations in patient decision support: bridging the gaps and challenges. Australas. Med. J. 6(2), 95–99 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Lee, P. Y., Khoo, E. M., Low, W. Y., Lee, Y. K., Abdullah, K. L., Azmi, S. A., Ng, C. J.: Mismatch between health‐care professionals’ and patients’ views on a diabetes patient decision aid: a qualitative study. Health Expect. (2015)

  29. Feldman-Stewart, D., O’Brien, M.A., Clayman, M.L., Davison, B.J., Jimbo, M., Labrecque, M., Martin, R.W., Shepherd, H.: Providing information about options in patient decision aids. BMC Med. Inform. Decis. Mak. 13(Suppl 2), S4 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Ng, C.J., Mathers, N., Bradley, A., Colwell, B.: A ‘combined framework’ approach to developing a patient decision aid: the PANDAs model. BMC Health Serv. Res. 14(1), 1 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Goodman, J., Brewster, S., Gray, P.: Older people, mobile devices and navigation. In: HCI and the Older Population, pp. 13–14 (2004)

  32. Strauss, A.L., Corbin, J.M.: Grounded Theory in Practice, 2nd edn. Sage, Thousand Oaks (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Silverman, D.: Doing Qualitative Research: A Practical Handbook. Sage, Thousand Oaks (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Strong, G. W., Gasen, J. B., Hewett, T., Hix, D., Morris, J., Muller, M. J., Novick, D. G.: New Directions in Human-Computer Interaction Education. Research, and Practice, report sponsored by NSF and ARPA (1994)

  35. Aehnelt, M., Peter, C., Müsebeck, P.: A discussion of using mental models in assistive environments. In: Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Pervasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments, p. 37. ACM (2012)

  36. Gregor, P., Newell, A. F., Zajicek, M.: Designing for dynamic diversity: interfaces for older people. In: Proceedings of the fifth international ACM conference on Assistive technologies, pp. 151–156. ACM (2002)

  37. Zajicek, M., Brewster, S.: Design principles to support older adults. Univ. Access Inf. Soc. 3(2), 111–113 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Kurniawan, S., Zaphiris, P.: Research-derived web design guidelines for older people. In: Proceedings of the 7th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers and accessibility, pp. 129–135. ACM (2005)

  39. Department of Statistics Malaysia: Department of Statistics 2000, Putrajaya (2000)

  40. Letchuman, G.R., Wan Nazaimoon, W.M., Wan Mohamad, W.B., Chandran, L.R., Tee, G.H., Jamaiyah, H., Isa, M.R., Population Distribution and Basic Demographic Characteristics, The 2000 Population and Housing Census of Malaysia, Zanariah, H., Fatanah, I., Ahmad Faudzi, Y.: Prevalence of diabetes in the malaysian national health morbidity survey III 2006. Med. J. Malays. 65(3), 180–186 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research is funded by the University of Malaya Research Grant (UMRG) RP003E-13ICT ‘‘Mobile Health Monitor to Improve Healthcare for Diabetic Patients’’ and University of Malaya Research Grant (UMRG) RP015B-13HTM ‘Development and Pilot-testing Decision Making in Insulin Therapy (DMIT) Patient Decision Aid for the Internet.’

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Angeline Su Lyn Lum or Thiam Kian Chiew.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lum, A.S.L., Chiew, T.K., Ng, C.J. et al. Development of a web-based insulin decision aid for the elderly: usability barriers and guidelines. Univ Access Inf Soc 16, 775–791 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-016-0503-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-016-0503-y

Keywords