Enhancing and monitoring patient outcomes through customized learning

Abstract

Chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and asthma continue to increase in the general public within the modern era. With careful observation of the symptoms potential diseases may be detected early and managed properly. For that to happen, the awareness of the symptoms and proper knowledge about the diseases may be needed for each patient. To acquire such knowledge, patients may need to gather essential health information from a variety of sources such as the Internet, articles, or some type of e-learning systems. However, the amount of available information, often too much, which discourages patients to continue. In response to such scenarios, we propose an approach that delivers only the relevant information that is specific to each patient's condition. In our approach, we utilized observed symptoms and vital signs to identify potential diseases of a patient. As they use the system, their profile may be constructed to deliver patient-specific set of learning materials called a study plan. To monitor and promote their study, we developed a mobile application that allows patients to view their study plan(s) and to study the customized learning materials. Such customized learning allows patients to take control of their symptoms and potential diseases, which eventually helps them to improve their outcomes as a result.