Exploring educational needs and design aspects of internet-enabled patient education for persons with diabetes: a qualitative interview study

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article is to explore the educational needs and design aspects of personalised internet-enabled education for patients with diabetes in Iran. DESIGN: Data were collected using semistructured interviews and then qualitatively analysed using inductive content analysis. PARTICIPANTS: 9 patients with type 2 diabetes were included. Inclusion criteria were access to and knowledge on how to use the internet. The selection ensured representation based on gender, age, occupation and educational background. SETTING: The sample population was patients with diabetes who were admitted to an outpatient diabetes clinic in Mashhad, a large city of Iran with about 3 million inhabitants. RESULTS: 4 core categories emerged from the data: (1) seeking knowledge about diabetes, including specific knowledge acquisition, patient's interactions and learning requirements; (2) teaching and learning, including using different teaching methods and different ways to learn about the disease; (3) facilitators, including internet and mobile phone use to learn about the disease; and (4) barriers, including lack of internet access, uncertainty of access to the internet and lack of website in the local language and also perceived cultural barriers, such as patients' fears of the internet, lack of time and awareness. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a better understanding of the patient's educational expectations and technical needs in relation to internet-enabled education. This knowledge will inform the development of functional mock-ups in the next research phase using a design-based research approach in order to design internet-enabled patient education for self-management of diabetes.