According to the CDC, diabetes mellitus affected 11.3% of US residents over 20 years of age and 26.9% of those over 65 in 2011. Because this disease can lead to severe health complications, patients with diabetes are over-represented in healthcare settings. A person with diabetes must incorporate disease management into every aspect of his or her life, remaining constantly vigilant and accommodating continual lifestyle modifications. Despite the daily challenges that confront these individuals, healthcare providers often practice without fully understanding the impact this diagnosis has on a patient’s life. As a result, patients may experience negative attitudes from healthcare workers that make them feel objectified and stigmatized, ultimately leading to poor health outcomes. Studies have shown that health simulation experiences, in which a person experiences the reality of a disease or condition, can be powerful tools for influencing the perceptions of healthcare workers. However, little is known about how these programs impact the perceptions of nurses who work closely with patients to manage chronic conditions such as diabetes. The purpose of this research study is to explore and describe the perceptions of nurses after completion of the Diabetes Reality Experience, an educational program in which they live for several days as though they have diabetes by incorporating monitoring, treatment, and prevention measures into their daily life. Evaluations and reflections written by participants will be qualitatively analyzed and interpreted to identify themes related to how the simulation experience influenced their insight and attitudes. This research has the potential to contribute to our understanding of how nurses and other healthcare workers can be better prepared to work sensitively with patients who have complex chronic conditions.

Mobility is a sensitive indicator of overall health in older adults. Objective mobility data can provide insight into patterns of function including sleep, behavior, and activity, which is valuable information for both individuals and their healthcare providers. By visualizing objective mobility data, providers can assess for trends that could indicate a shift in overall health in order to intervene earlier, whereas older individuals with mobility goals may benefit from feedback in order to better meet goals or sustain behavior change. The purpose of this project is to perform a secondary data analysis and determine methods for visualizing objective mobility data for both individual users and healthcare providers. Participants of the original study were older adults with a recent history of mild traumatic brain injury. Data was collected with an active sensor system requiring participants to wear a sensor device during waking hours. Working through an interface designed by the University of Washington Ubicomp Lab I aim to create a composite profile of a single participants mobility and movement within their life-space. I am using Excel to sort and create visual representations of data. Key factors to include in visualizing these data are total amounts of active versus passive time spent per participant and the participant’s mobility within his or her life-space. Data analysis is in process and prototypes for visualization are under development. With any visualization effort, it is important to address the different stakeholders’ needs and expectations. Visualizing mobility data for individuals to better understand their own activity levels requires an approach that may be different from visualization targeting clinicians to support clinical decision making. Differences include preferences for granularity of data, level of abstraction, and annotation of context specific details that complement the visualization data. This study demonstrates that visualization can maximize the utility of health monitoring data.