The mHealth information management system at home.
Posted by Ron Otten on 15/05/2009
The confrontation with MHealth-services lies in the homes, office-buildings and even the streets where people go. What do we know about that context? Who’s in charge of health information at work? Who plays the main nursing role in the home? It’s important to learn what livingconditions are, starting with the household.
Patti Brennan, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, spoke on the emerging field of home-health information technology last week. She stressed that, “if we truly want to get the power of healthcare in the hands of people and have them use health information technology, we need to think about people where they are.” It’s essential to know about the home environment. There are at least five influencing factors to consider: living conditions, social, technological, psychological and health service options. “What tools might be useful to people as they face health care in homes?” asked Brennan. The question is how to help patients with chronic illnesses improve their health by helping them record, understand and act on information they record about their daily lives.
These observations of daily living, or ODLs, are thought to be the key to designing effective health 2.0 tools. People are not apt to keep a daily health journal of habits and behaviors. Focus on creating innovative ways to capture this information. You can’t sell health by just delivering cool tools. There must be an understanding of the daily lives of individuals.
What could these capture tools possibly look like? Brennan described smart clothing that monitor critical health indicators, or carpeting with sensors that will recognize a change in a person’s cadence – an early sign of confusion and cognitive ailment. Air sensors and other environmental tools could monitor for pollen density in homes. Tools can be mobile, such as a portable health diary, a key fob that would encourage exercise, or cell phone application that captures food intake and connects to medical records.
“The popularity of consumer electronic devices such as the iPhone, iPod and even gaming systems like the Wii could provide the so-called “killer ap” said Brennan. “This will drive patient adoption of data-capture devices. Challenges lie in monitoring and reporting the data in stream, and figuring out what the data means”.
The idea behind ODLs is moving consumers to the next level of responsibility for their own choices and their own health. There has to be thought given to the shift in accountability for health care decision-making. Environmental readiness will be a key issue. Future development of healthcare IT in the home is guided by principals that promote dignity, autonomy and well being in communities. Moving beyond industrial services and toward patient activation and engagement. Brennan:”People need to be trained, perhaps starting as early as Kindergarten, to think about taking an active part in their own health.”
