Leveraging community for mHealth research and development

Abstract

The use of mobile technologies in health-care, often referred to as mHealth , is redefining how health information and services can be delivered in the twenty-first century. Modern mobile devices offer advanced multimedia communication in a highly personalized and easily accessible fashion, and mobile Internet means that users can tap into a variety of social networks and health communities from anywhere in the world. The focus of this chapter is to examine the rapid development of mobile computing devices such as cell phones, smartphones, tablets, and portable computers, and how these devices shape the emergence of mobile communities in a health-care context. By examining relevant research into how social networks and mobile communities develop, this chapter aims to support researchers and developers in creating and evaluating mobile health tools and interventions, focusing on making meaningful impacts on health care in the digital age. Drawing on a variety of theoretical and empirical research, this chapter explores mHealth initiatives that are currently available to patients and the relevant community factors that underpin their success. The applicability of the mobile community phenomenon in health and the implications of how community and social network theory can be leveraged for health improvement and behavior change will be examined. This chapter will provide a framework for understanding how mobile technology creates optimal conditions for enhanced personalized and community-driven health service delivery, research, and knowledge translation and will describe some of the anticipated success factors for mHealth interventions in the future.