Technology Support for Diabetes
Diabetes Mellitus is one of the most common chronic diseases globally. A prevalent and debilitating complication of diabetes is ‘ulceration of the foot’, which is strongly associated with peripheral neuropathy, ischemia and infection. Diabetic foot ulcers are thereby a major cause of morbidity and a frequent reason for hospitalisation. In this project the partners will develop novel technology to improve the education, behavior and remote monitoring around diabetic feet.
RondOm Podotherapeuten, a large primary care organisation in the Netherlands, has developed a selfcare application for people with Diabetes type-2 foot problems, called the 'Diabetes Voetencheck app’ (Diabetes feet check app) focusing on regular e-screening of the foot for podiatrists to use in their podiatry practice.
The application makes e-screening possible and has more opportunities in terms of patient engagement, prevention of health issues and improvement of living with diabetes. Since its pilot launch earlier this year, the application has reached over 500 users in their application which has resulted in over 8000 e-screenings and several detected pre-ulcers. Challenges remain, however, on how to reach and (re)engage a larger target group and pool of care professional and to improve the application in terms of user experience and features.
The aim of this project is as follows. First, the goal is to work with the current application, investigate why and how it works or doesn't work, and increase use and adoption by improving usability and quality of service. Second, the goal is to explore further how this group can be supported by designing novel interventions and services that can be added to or work in conjunction with the application. With a consortium of Fontys school of allied health, RondOm Podotherapeuten, Eindhoven University of Technology, and the software company Stofloos, and a network of supportive partners, all necessary partners are in place to achieve these goals.
