Mobile Health (mHealth) Apps for Improved Health in Medicine
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Abstract
Mobile health (mHealth) apps are popular on all mobile device platforms (Android, iOS, and Windows) and form factors (smartphones, tablets, and even the latest wearable fitness gadgets such as FitBit, Nike+ FuelBand, Google Glass, and smartwatches). With nearly 100,000 available health and fitness-related apps, only a small percentage (15%) of the dedicated medical apps are linked to medical providers. Some predict the worldwide revenues of mHealth apps to reach $26 billion by 2017 (Research2Guidance, 2013), but currently there is little regulation on how these apps can be integrated to collect, store, and transfer data, provide tangible benefits to patient health, and lower healthcare costs (Kamel Boulos et al., 2014).
With seven in ten U.S. adults tracking a health indicator for themselves or for a loved one (Fox & Duggan 2012), there is a need to have effective mHealth apps that can contribute to behavior change, motivation, self-management, and adherence to medical protocols. Using smartphone features like global positioning system (GPS), motion sensors (accelerometers, gyrometers, magnetometers), wireless communications (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Near Field Communications-NFC) and cameras, these apps are able to provide users more than just one’s location. They can be used to prompt users to: perform a certain task (reminder to take medication); provide feedback on recent physical activity patterns; engage with others online and perhaps even in the physical world; and even provide users with interactive features within a game such as leaderboards and social networking features (gamification).
This presentation will review the latest commercial fitness and medical mHealth apps, games, and devices that use GPS, and related location-aware apps with social and gamification features. Specific attention will be given to apps and devices that have been used in clinical research or pilot projects. This review categorizes past findings for specific medical conditions and indicates existing gaps in the literature. Future recommendations for research and development of technical features are suggested based on findings and suggestions from other fields of study, including human-computer interaction (HCI), behavior change, and social networking theories.
Using advanced features on smartphones (GPS, motion sensing, geosocial) coupled with an app that is able to assist mobile users to not only track location but also to interact socially with others, playing games based in real-life or alternate-reality (ARG), has the potential to give healthcare professionals better health managements tools to ensure compliance to protocols, rehabilitation, and behavior change. This presentation will focus on the current state of mHealth apps for health and medicine; outline the available mHealth apps that capitalize on persuasive and pervasive technologies, and provide alternate suggestions and features that may impact future healthcare programs and outcomes.
With seven in ten U.S. adults tracking a health indicator for themselves or for a loved one (Fox & Duggan 2012), there is a need to have effective mHealth apps that can contribute to behavior change, motivation, self-management, and adherence to medical protocols. Using smartphone features like global positioning system (GPS), motion sensors (accelerometers, gyrometers, magnetometers), wireless communications (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Near Field Communications-NFC) and cameras, these apps are able to provide users more than just one’s location. They can be used to prompt users to: perform a certain task (reminder to take medication); provide feedback on recent physical activity patterns; engage with others online and perhaps even in the physical world; and even provide users with interactive features within a game such as leaderboards and social networking features (gamification).
This presentation will review the latest commercial fitness and medical mHealth apps, games, and devices that use GPS, and related location-aware apps with social and gamification features. Specific attention will be given to apps and devices that have been used in clinical research or pilot projects. This review categorizes past findings for specific medical conditions and indicates existing gaps in the literature. Future recommendations for research and development of technical features are suggested based on findings and suggestions from other fields of study, including human-computer interaction (HCI), behavior change, and social networking theories.
Using advanced features on smartphones (GPS, motion sensing, geosocial) coupled with an app that is able to assist mobile users to not only track location but also to interact socially with others, playing games based in real-life or alternate-reality (ARG), has the potential to give healthcare professionals better health managements tools to ensure compliance to protocols, rehabilitation, and behavior change. This presentation will focus on the current state of mHealth apps for health and medicine; outline the available mHealth apps that capitalize on persuasive and pervasive technologies, and provide alternate suggestions and features that may impact future healthcare programs and outcomes.
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