If you are an anthropologist wanting to use digital methods or programming as part of your research, where do you start? In this commentary, we discuss three ways in which anthropologists can use computational tools to enhance, support, and complement ethnographic methods. By presenting our reflections, we hope to contribute to the stirring conversations about the potential future role(s) of (social) data science vis-a-vis anthropology and ethnography, and to inspire other anthropologists to take up the use of digital methods, programming, and computational tools in their own research.

Background/Objectives: Working with young adults with T1D in outpatients clinic entails achieving a delicate balance between maintaining trust and improving diabetes management. By looking at the interactions between healthcare professionals and young adults with T1D as narrative emplotment, this article seeks to investigate how illness narratives are part of and actively worked on in consultations. Methods: Based on ethnographic observations of fourteen consultations with young adults 18–23 years of age, three narrative strategies to promote better diabetes management among the young adults were identified: (1) replacing sub-optimal practice with technology, (2) encouraging enhanced autonomy, and (3) setting realistic standards for diabetes care. Each strategy works to create a meaningful explanation for experienced challenges, formingas a basis for improved diabetes self-management. Results: Consultations were found to create a space where the meaning of living with an illness can be discussed between the healthcare professionals and the patients. Conclusions: Looking at how this meaning is negotiated in the consultations is an important aspect of understanding how daily diabetes management is made practicable, especially when working with young adults who are constituting their identities and often live with sub-optimal glycaemic control.

Hospital-at-Home (HaH) models deliver hospital-level care in patients’ homes, with some models relying on informal caregivers for support. While HaH