Collaborative Diabetes Management in China: A Digital Empowerment Perspective

Abstract

With the widespread of information and communication technologies (ICT) tools, home-based diabetes management (HDM) emerges as a widely approved paradigm. While extant studies focus on the enabling outcomes of ICT tools and patients’ activities, this work complements extant work with the enabling mechanisms and collaborative activities among patient, doctors, and relatives. By interpreting a successful HDM project in China from the digital empowerment perspective, this work finds that all actors benefit from (1)structural empowerment since HDM bridges critical actors by building channels for blood glucose data transmission and easy communication, (2) resource empowerment since patients and relatives get more knowledge and information about diabetes management, doctors get more financial incentives, and (3) psychological empowerment since HDM strengthens critical actors’ confidence, trust, and willingness to collaborate on diabetes management. The findings reveal the underlying mechanisms through which ICT tools enable HDM.