Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1992.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri--Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-120). Also available on the Internet.

Children are vulnerable to the heatwaves, so to protect children from heat-related illness, taking preventative action during summer is necessary. To offer insights for the future design that supports child-parent collaborative prevention during heatwaves and promotes children’s independence, this project increases understanding of: Firstly, current practice of how children and their caregivers are involved in prevention. Secondly, identify challenges they face during the collaborative care process and strategies to develop children’s independence in self-care. This project conducted qualitative research to explore prevention experience from the caregivers’ aspect. Through analyzing data, this study identifies firstly cognitive ability and motivation as core factors in engaging children in collaborative care and prevention. Secondly, to develop preventive ability, children can promote care skills in family-based collaborative activities. Thirdly, to support children’s independence, smoothing the role transition of caregivers in child-parent collaboration is significant. This study offers design suggestions and discusses the opportunities for applying technology to contribute to children’s prevention and maintain care consistency.