Abstract
Celiac disease is a chronic disease treated by maintaining a lifelong restrictive gluten-free diet. A mobile application, Plan My C-Day, with food-related simulations was developed to promote self-management skills among youth with celiac disease.
Primary Author and Speaker: Sonya Meyer
Additional Authors and Speakers: Gali Naveh
To develop the mobile application, Plan My C-Day, to promote self-management skills among youth with celiac disease and to examine its usability. Avoiding gluten and maintaining a lifelong gluten-free diet is the sole treatment available today for celiac disease. Adherence to the diet can be especially challenging during adolescence (Lindfors et al., 2019). This proof-of-concept study was comprised of 13 adolescents (13 to 18 years) with celiac who were recruited via designated social media groups. Plan My C-Day contains three simulations of daily activities involving eating out in different environments and social contexts, and suggested actions to take when preparing to participate in these events (Meyer & Rosenblum, 2017). The application was developed for Android operating smartphone systems, and pilot tested by the participants. Application use and user-perception data were collected and analyzed. Further, user self-created events were added. Participants chose a total of 160 actions within the three simulations. For over 75% of participants, the time to complete the simulation decreased from the first to the third (last) simulation by an average of 50%. The average reported usability perception was 3.71 on a scale of 1 to 5, with system ease of use and ease of learning obtaining the highest scores. Self-created scheduled events with timed reminder alerts to perform the preparation actions were developed. This study demonstrated that the Plan My C-Day mobile application’s self-management content, features, and functions operated well and that the simulations were easy to understand and complete. Further development will include adaptation to different languages and cultures and iOS platform. Effective self-management skills are vital for managing the health condition such as celiac disease, involve navigating daily challenges, solving problems, and making decisions. This occupational based Application can assist adolescents independently or with the guidance of an occupational therapy practitioner to manage their health condition effectively.
Lindfors, K., Ciacci, C., Kurppa, K., Lundin, K. E., Makharia, G. K., Mearin, M. L., ... Kaukinen, K. (2019). Coeliac disease. Nature reviews Disease primers, 5(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41572-018-0054-z.
Meyer, S., & Rosenblum, S. (2017). Development and validation of the celiac disease-children’s activities report (CD-chart) for promoting self-management among children and adolescents. Nutrients, 9(10), 1130. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9101130