HCC: Small: Designing Health Data-Tracking Technologies for Children

University Of California-Irvine, Irvine CA

Investigators

Abstract

Data-tracking technologies such as smartwatches, fitness bands, and patient monitoring devices have been widely adopted to manage children’s health and wellness. When successful, tracking technologies and practices can encourage children’s self-awareness, enhance health knowledge, and foster a sense of agency and control. However, tracking health for children is complex, requiring collaboration between children, parents, and healthcare providers, as well as designs that can serve children of different ages and children with varying health conditions. Many existing systems fail to meet these challenges, being mainly designed for general wellness and to meet parents’ tracking needs rather than children's. This project aims to study these challenges through a systematic approach to examining the design of data-tracking technologies for children of different ages, health contexts, and modes of collaboration. Results from the work will be shared broadly with patient advocacy groups and health organizations. The project focuses on four intertwined research topics: data needs and data literacy; data work and data representations; different modes of tracking intended for children, parents, or healthcare providers; and varying data needs with different health conditions. To support the last, and to increase the generalizability of the findings, the project will address three diverse health contexts: children’s general wellness, asthma as an example of a common chronic illness, and a set of rare diseases that share similar characteristics. The project will consist of three interconnected stages: first, an interview study examining data literacy, tracking experiences, and technology use with children, parents, and healthcare providers; second, a co-design study exploring parents and children’s data needs, data work, and data representations; and third, a design and deployment study examining stakeholders’ in situ experiences of health tracking and soliciting feedback for further improvement in the designs. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.