Co-Designing Accessible Insulin Pumps

Date & Time

Wednesday, March 15, 2023 - 3:20 PM PST  

Location

Grand CD  

Description

Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in Canada with the risk of blindness being 25 times greater for individuals with diabetic retinopathy. Vision problems and blindness associated with diabetic retinopathy can be prevented or mitigated with the proper control of blood sugar and blood pressure, yet, established methods for measuring and mediating such physiological states have proved inaccessible for the visually impaired community. Insulin pump therapy is a type of diabetes treatment offering insulin infusions rather than multiple daily insulin injections. However, for individuals who are partially sighted, deafblind, or blind and live with diabetes, the features of an insulin pump have not been designed as universally accessible.Using an online survey, we next examined the accessibility barriers experienced by Canadians with sight loss and diabetes in use of insulin pump devices. Insulin pumps currently offered on the Canadian market are not accessible for those who are visually impaired. The majority of pump users require the assistance of sighted individuals to safely and adequately use their devices. This research identified many accessibility problems with current pumps such as a lack of haptic feedback (i.e. vibrations), a lack of tactile feedback (i.e. buttons designed for accessibility), and a lack of sufficient audio feedback and visual feedback. Our findings clearly highlight distress due to inaccessibility of these devices.  

Audience

• Disability Specific
• Government
• Healthcare & Rehabilitation
• Research & Development

Audience Level

Intermediate  

Session Summary (Abstract)

Co-design approach was used to identify and refine the design features of an accessible insulin pump.  

Primary Topic

Blind/Low Vision  

Secondary Topics

Healthcare & Rehabilitation  

Session Type

General Track  

Presenter

• Mahadeo Sukhai
  CNIB

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