Between regulatory functions and emotional burden: balancing engagement in digital health interventions for self-care in chronic illness

From the results we identified five psychological functions of engagement with digital monitoring tools, each showing both functional and non-functional or ambivalent expression. Engagement with DHIs cannot be reduced to simple observable behavior, but must be understood as a dynamic, iterative and situated process, supported by the regulatory functions in the context of self-care. Clinicians, psychologists, and designers are therefore called upon to recognize and value the psychological functions implicit in DHIs in order to promote truly sustainable, meaningful, and person-centered care practices and engagement.