Mobile Technologies for Health Education: What Do We Need to Consider? Crucial Conversations about Optimal Design Column

Abstract

COLUMN In the past several years, there has been a significant national emphasis on the use of health information technology (HIT) to make health care safer and more efficient. Healthy People 2020 also highlights the importance of using Internet and mobile devices to promote public health (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). In fact, the Internet has already become an excellent dissemination medium for health information, and the public now has access to an unprecedented amount of online health information. In 2012, 81% of American adults were online users (Pew Internet, 2012), and 59% of them used the Internet to find health information (Fox & Duggan, 2013). Many major hospitals use patient health portals, allowing patients to review their health records and communicate with their health care providers. Recently, mobile technologies, such as mobile phones and tablets, are one of the fastest growing online access platforms (Rainie & Fox, 2012). In 2012, 87% of American adults owned a mobile phone, and 45% of them had a smartphone. Since the introduction of iPads in 2010, there has been a rapid growth in the use of tablets. Now, 31% of American adults own a tablet computer (Pew Internet, 2013), and many clinicians are using them in clinical settings (e.g., for information retrieval). Some clinicians have found iPads helpful when explaining certain procedures and disease processes to their patients at the bedside (e.g., as a visual aid) (Blaz , Kapsandoy, & Staggers, 2011; Feldman, Nathanson, Halamka, & Meyers, 2011; Valentine, Dundas, & Fitz , 2011; Zhang et al., 2011). Many laypersons also use iPads to access health information as well. With their mobility, easy user interfaces (i.e., touch screens), and convenient connectivity, mobile programs offer health care providers an excellent opportunity to reach out and connect many different segments of populations to existing eHealth resources. This column will discuss the use of mobile technologies for health education specifically focusing on design issues. Mobile phone-based health interventions (voice-based and/or text-based messages) are already in active use, and many studies showed their effectiveness on health outcomes. For example, a systematic review of 18 studies found some positive impact of cell phone-based health information interventions on health outcomes, including provider-patient communication and patients' satisfaction with care (Krishna & Boren, 2008). The majority of the interventions used in the published studies have focused on the use of short message service (SMS) based