Investigating Daily Practices of Self-care to Inform the Design of Supportive Health Technologies for Living and Ageing Well with HIV

We report on a Diary Study investigating daily practices of Self-care by seven UK adults living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), to understand their routines, experiences, needs and concerns, informing Self-care technology design to support living well. We advance a developing HCI literature evidencing how digital tools for self-managing health do not meet the complex needs of those living with long-term conditions, especially those from marginalised communities. Our evaluation of using a Self-care Diary as Design Probe responds to calls to study Self-care practices so that future digital health tools are better grounded in lived experiences of managing multi-morbidity. We contribute to HCI discourses including Personal Health Informatics, Lived Informatics and Reflection by illuminating psychosocial challenges for practicing and self-reporting on Self-care. We offer design implications from a Critical Digital Health perspective, addressing barriers to technology use related to trust, privacy, and representation, gaining new significance during the COVID-19 pandemic.