What the public really want from self-management tools on their mobile phones

What do the public want from managing their own chronic illnesses? And what are their attitudes towards having personal health data online?

Incorporating the needs and wants of your audience into your design framework is key to making a successful product or service. The iManageCancer project is creating a set of tools for mobile phones that patients with cancer can use to self-manage their illnesses, and set out to discover what people really feel about these topics.

Back in May 2015, an online survey was created and promoted to the cancer community via ecancer.org (run by iManageCancer partner Cancer Intelligence) along with a host of other platforms to distribute this in English, Italian, German and Greek.

We got a great response from people from all across Europe, with 226 surveys submitted.

Most people trust their healthcare systems, but with Greece possessing the lowest levels of trust.

Most people (80% +) would like tools for analysing their own health data, and another 80% would like to give their health data for research.

Half of respondents had heard of serious games, but most haven’t played one. These are seen as being educational, distracting, de-stressing and helping people to cope with their disease.

The favourite tools suggested were uploading health data, giving health recommendations, contact with the treating doctor and a tool on drug interactions.

Online security when sharing information is incredibly important for all respondents.

These are just a sample of all the information we got back. They are all great insights into the most important things that we should (and shouldn’t) include when designing the perfect cancer self-management platform for mobile phones. We look forward to when these are prototyped and can really try them out – and see how they change people’s lives.