In my last post, I discussed the effect of mental stress and
personality characteristics on a diabetic people's ability to
control their blood glucose levels. In this post I focus on the
role of health information technology in support of health
education programs. What do people with diabetes (and other
chronic conditions) need in order to overcome their
psychological obstacles and promote healthy living? As
previously discussed in this paper, they must have adequate
knowledge and understanding, positive emotions, rational
attitudes and beliefs, effective coping skills, and motivation.
That means they not only have to be aware of their physical
health problems and ways to manage them, but they must also be
aware of how their mental health (attitudes, emotions and mental
stress) affects their blood glucose and how to control it.
Achieving this daunting goal requires health coaching and
counseling, of course. The coaching and counseling services can
be enhanced through interactions with other people and use of