The purpose of this study was to conduct a qualitative investigation to provide a baseline understanding of the typical experiences of food insecure college students and their understanding of what it means to be food insecure. Because of the stigma that is associated with food insecurity and emergency food resources, it may be difficult for students to discuss these topics openly with university administration or even with each other. For this reason, an asynchronous remote community allowed students to share their experiences anonymously. The narrative data collected in this study is meant to share the stories of students who live with the reality of food insecurity every day.

Diabetes education has shown to improve diabetes health markers but there is a need for it to be more accessible Diabetes education in the form of Diabetes Self Education and Management (DSMES) could potentially utilize IT technologies, which have shown promise as a more accessible way to access healthcare and manage health. However, both these methods have not been optimized for the diverse population in the US. In particular, Chinese Americans are a growing minority group in America whose health needs such as diabetes type 2 are growing. As a cultural group, Chinese Americans have cultural characteristics that have been identified in the literature, which should be accounted for in the design of a technology-enabled DSMES program. This qualitative study aims to understand what ways Chinese Americans with type 2 diabetes are learning about and managing diabetes, as well as their technology usage. Themes such as cultural food importance, family roles, information acquisition, and attitudes and motivation emerged. Themes motivated the design implications and recommendations such as creating a more specified, culturally tailored Chinese food menu, integrated family features, and trackers with increased feedback. More research should be conducted to test the effectiveness of including these features in a technology-enabled DSMES program.