Abstract

Socio-cultural factors in diabetes management in South Korea
In South Korea, currently 13.7 per cent of the population is diagnosed with diabetes mellitus (DM), and it’s a growing trend. To prevent T2DM and other endocrine disorders, doctors recommend weight control, sufficient physical activity, and healthy diet. Following the guidelines, however, has not been easy for South Koreans. Between 1998-2015, the daily energy intake for South Korean men has increased from 2196 kcal to 2489 kcal, while physical activity has decreased for both men and women. At this moment, nationwide efforts are called for to remove socio-cultural factors of the DM epidemic.

In this study, the author reports findings and design outcomes from a 16-week healthcare design course led by two instructors in collaboration with medical experts at a tertiary healthcare institution. In total, 15 students participated in this class: a) to investigate socio-cultural barriers to a healthy lifestyle specific to South Korean culture, for DM prevention and easier DM management; and b) to explore design concepts to resolve such barriers.

Factors that adversely affect people’s health and trigger diabetes onset are:

1. Excessive working hours and drinking culture – the average working hours in South Korea are 2069 hours per worker, and it can encourage sleep deprivation, lack of exercise, and late night snacking/drinking among Korean workers, eventually leading to weight gain.
2. Social stigma and patients’ hiding behaviours – Korean diabetes patients show a strong tendency to hide their conditions owing to fear of being stigmatised at work/schools, being filtered out from the job recruitment process, and in other social relationships. For the same reason, some patients postpone insulin treatment even when they need it immediately.
3. Reliance on unverified information from online communities – an analysis of DM patients’ online community postings indicate some patients’ reliance on unverified information from other lay patient members, as regard to treatment, management, and glucose reading. They do so because of their low health literacy, inaccessible medical service/personnel, and their desire to try folk medicine that doctors would not approve.

The same factors also pose serious difficulties in diabetes patients’ diet and exercise management. To address the problems, students proposed four design concepts: 1) a portable, integrated blood glucose meter and insulin pen; 2) a mobile application for verified diabetes information from licensed medical personnel; 3) a smart lunch system for safe out-of-home meals; and 4) an improved design of the health check-up report format for patients with low health literacy. Details of the design solutions are presented with figures.