Dalton Jacobs
Brian Sebastian
Nidheesh Sharma
26 May 2011











Introduction
◦ Related Work
Problem Statement
Proposal
◦ High Level Overview
Nidheesh
Work Allocation
Dalton
Methodology
Ethical Issues
Risks
Anticipated Outcomes
Timeline
Brian
Conclusion
References
What is Diabetes?
 A medical disorder that is characterized by
raised glucose levels due to insufficient
insulin secretion or reduced insulin action, or
both



In 2004, about 3.4 million people worldwide
died from diabetes [WHO 2011]
2 people every 10 seconds!
In 2006, approx. 6.5 million diabetics in
South Africa [Health 24 2006]
◦ Out of an estimated population of 47 million South
Africans at that time period [Statistics South Africa
2006]
◦ Only 8000 were registered with the Diabetes South
Africa network [Health 24 2006]
How to manage Diabetes
 Self Management
◦ Self monitoring of blood glucose levels
◦ Diet control

Social Support
◦ Family and Friends
◦ Communicating with other patients
◦ Seeking quick professional advice

Diabetes Pilot software [Digital Altitudes 2010]
+ Compatible with mobile devices and computers
- Costly and not affordable by an average user thus
limiting the products recognition in a society

CureTogether Social Network [Swan 2009]
+ Allows patients to anonymously compare and track
conditions with one another
- Focuses more on information sharing and not so
much on emotional support

PatientsLikeMe Social Network [Swan 2009]
+ Offers patient-to-patient support based on their
own experience
- Not easily accessible from any other device other
than a computer thus restricting communication

In South Africa, there is a lack of publicly
available E-Health systems for diabetes selfmanagement

Lack of publicly available online social support
structures for diabetics in South Africa

Patients prefer remaining anonymous
interacting with other patients

when
An Investigation into the Accessibility and
Affordability of E-Health Systems in South Africa
is required

Investigate what type of E-Health system that
diabetic patients really need
◦ Questionnaires, Interviews, Online Surveys

Design a System based on User Requirements
◦ User Centred Design
◦ Affordable and Easily Accessible
 Through the possible use of location based service

Pilot the Final Working System

Workload will be divided into 3 different
sections as follows:

Team Member 1: Diabetes Self-Management
System

Team Member 2: Social Support and Social
Networking

Team Member 3: Applicability of E-health to
Mobile Technology
1
2
3
Piloting
4
Analysis Stage
 Consists
of obtaining information from
diabetic patients in order to define the
requirements of the new system
◦ Project Test Users
◦ Questionnaires and Online Surveys
Analysis Stage
 Consists
of obtaining information from
diabetic patients in order to define the
requirements of the new system
◦ Localization
 Location-based Service
 Each team member is responsible for investigating the
integration of localization with our final system
Design and Development Stage
 Involves developing prototypes by utilizing
the information from the initial stage
◦ Low Fidelity Prototype
◦ High Fidelity Prototype
Implementation Stage
 Pilot Final System
◦ Evaluation of system will be targeted at user group
derived in analysis stage
Final System Evaluation Stage
 A quantitative evaluation of the final system
◦ Questionnaires
◦ Log files of Final System
 Whether the speed of using the system improves over
time
 Illustrate if our system is utilized on a regular basis
(Time Permitting)



Ensure Anonymity of Participants if required
Obtain ethical clearance from the university
to conduct these user experiments
Inform participants to continue their usual
diabetes management as well as use our new
system

Hardware Issues

Failure to attract users

Ethical clearance delay

Data collection delay

Unfamiliarity with Certain Technologies


A functioning system developed from user
defined design
Positive evaluation of system
◦ An affordable system
◦ Easily accessible system by potential users
Deliverable Due
Initial Questionnaire Design
Initial Survey Using Questionnaires
Compilation of Questionnaires Data
Low Fidelity Paper Prototype
Evaluation of Prototype
High Fidelity Prototype
Evaluation of Prototype
Final Working System
Evaluation of System
Due Date
15/06/2011
20/07/2011
29/07/2011
07/08/2011
13/08/2011
21/08/2011
29/08/2011
19/09/2011
02/10/2011

Develop a system that focuses more on the
user’s needs that possibly revolutionises the
healthcare system
◦ Affordable and Easily Accessible
◦ Based on User Centred Design

A system to provide a better way to selfmanage an individual’s health and allow them
to assist each other by means of social
networking




DIGITAL ALTITUDES. 2010. Diabetes Pilot: Software for Diabetes.
http://www.diabetespilot.com/.
HEALTH 24. 2006. Diabetes South Africa.
http://www.health24.com/medical/Condition_centres/777-792808-1662,35771.asp.
STATISTICS SOUTH AFRICA. 2006. Mid Year Population Estimates,
South Africa 2006. Statistical Release P0302. 1-13.
SWAN, M. 2009. Emerging patient-driven health care models: an
examination of health social networks, consumer personalized
medicine and quantified self-tracking. International journal of
environmental research and public health. 6. 492-525.

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION. 2011. Diabetes.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs312/en/.
Questions