| Exploring Mobile Information Systems for Adolescent Cancer Patients Abstract 1 (2009) | |||||||||||||
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| Adolescent cancer patients have to deal with many dependencies and obligations. Very often they are torn out of their social environment and become isolated because of changing therapy cycles and different treatment locations. This causes significant social and economic damages. The objective of this article is to present the first steps of an empirical exploration of the possibilities of mobile IT-support for communication and coordination for this target group during treatment and aftercare. Special emphasis is put on the effects of mobile systems on the patient’s perceived quality of life. The background here fore is a four-month field experiment conducted together with the cancer station of the hospital of Heidelberg University. We focus on particularities of and challenges for mobile information systems for patients in Germany and outline necessary future research aspects in this field. 1 Diagnosis of the problem situation Cancer diseases are after cardiovascular diseases the second most frequent causes of death in Germany. Every year approx. 338.000 people are confronted with the diagnosis “cancer ” (Deutsche Krebshilfe 2003), out of these approx. 1800 are children/adolescents under 15 years (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Bevölkerungsbezogener Krebsregister in Deutschland 2002). Cancer among adolescents is considered as a chronic disease (Pfefferbaum 1990, p. 555). It is important that the affected adolescents can have an as normal as possible physical and psychological development since this can be an important step towards a successful coping with the disease (Kyngäs et al. 2000). | |||||||||||||
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