Perceptions of Adolescents with Overweight and Obesity for the Development of User-Centered Design Self-Management Tools within the Context of the Chronic Care Model: A Qualitative Study.

Background: The Chronic Care Model (CCM) is helpful to illustrate multiple levels of influence in the management of chronic disease, such as overweight and obesity in adolescents. Unfortunately, various constraints create gaps in the management process activities performed within the CCM. Consumer health technologies (CHT) may serve as a linkage between adolescents with overweight or obesity, their parents, and their pediatricians.

A qualitative, exploratory study of predominantly female parental perceptions of consumer health technology use by their overweight and/or obese female adolescent participating in a fee-based 4-week weight-management intervention.

Consumer health technologies (CHTs) are a growing part of the continuum of care for self-management of overweight and obesity. Parents positively or negatively influence adolescent weight-management efforts and are especially important throughout continuum of care settings. User-centered design (UCD) applications have been developed to assist primary users, such as adolescents, with their weight management, but less is known about the influence of parents as secondary users across many socio-ecological environments.