Living Ambivalently with Chronic Illness

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Pediatric Chronic Illness Management
• Patient-Reported Outcomes

Background:

• Mobile health (mHealth) applications offer tools for continuous patient monitoring.
• Integrating chronic illness management into daily life presents unique challenges for pediatric patients and their families.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how pediatric patients and parents in Denmark make sense of mHealth app-based illness monitoring.
• To understand the factors influencing ambivalent attitudes towards anytime, anywhere mHealth monitoring.

Main Methods:

• Focus group discussions were conducted with pediatric patients and parents.
• Qualitative analysis explored lived experiences of managing chronic illness alongside daily life.

Main Results:

• Participants distinguished between 'when' and 'which' aspects of chronic illness to focus on.
• This selective focus generated ambivalent attitudes towards pervasive mHealth monitoring.

Conclusions:

• The desire for selective illness management influences patient and parent perspectives on mHealth apps.
• mHealth app design should consider the nuanced, context-dependent nature of chronic illness management in pediatrics.