Transitioning Toward Independence: Enhancing Collaborative Self-Management of Children with Type 1 Diabetes

Although child participation is required for successful Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) management, it is challenging because the child’s young age and immaturity make it difficult to perform self-care. Thus, parental caregivers are expected to be heavily involved in their child’s everyday illness management. Our study aims to investigate how children and parents collaborate to manage T1D and examine how the children become more independent in their self-management through the support of their parents. Through semi-structured interviews with children with T1D and their parents (N=41), our study showed that children’s knowledge of illness management and motivation for self-care were crucial for their transition towards independence. Based on these two factors, we identified four types of children’s collaboration (i.e., dependent, resistant, eager, and independent) and parents’ strategies for supporting their children’s independence. We suggest design implications for technologies to support collaborative care by improving children’s transition to independent illness management.