Gone are the days where our phone was used to only talk to someone. Smart phones have now taken the health profession by storm. With Apple boasting at having more than 500,000 apps, ranging from work to play, and apparently all things in between. One app that I found of interest is the iRecovery, this application is involved in tracking an individuals progress through their recovery process from addiction. However, this application can be used for any addiction, it can be tailored to the individual. iRecovery isn't the only way smart phones are being used to monitor health.
A case within Australia, showed the use of a smart phone to help monitor a heart attack patient. To help this man integrate back into his home, his doctor gave him a smart phone which read an ECG (via Blue tooth) which was physically attached to the patient at all times. To activate. basic information about the patient was put into the phone, which can be seen below. Furthermore, the type of rehabilitation for the patient was also selected.
Moreover, the smart phone is also set to suit the patients needs. For John, his sight isn't as good as his hearing, therefore, the doctor has set the phone to alert him of changed in his heart rate using sounds.This can be seen below.
As can be seen above, the process for setting up the phone is still going... On the right, is the set up to how many beats per minute (bpm) John is allowed to go up to before his smart phone starts issuing warnings. All of this data is uploaded onto the computer at the clinic. John is also encouraged to upload information through the smart phone., such things including the addresses of the places that he frequently visits. Furthermore, John has had to take his weight and heart rate every morning to put into the phone, which is then sent directly to the computer. This then means that the patients records are constantly updated, and not just on the visits that they have with the doctor. In regards to the picture below, John was out walking his dog when he collapsed, the smart phone showed this, and as John was unable to press no, 000 was called. After an ambulance was called an automated message played saying what you should do to help John is you were passing by. In comparison to the first phone, technology has come a long way, and this is not the only way the health system has taken smart phones into their stride.
The above two examples of iRecovery, and the heart monitoring are about applications that you can access through a smart phone, however, the use of short message service, otherwise known as SMS or texting, has evolved over the years. SMS is now been used for therapeutic intervention and support. The advantage for using SMS in clinical setting is that it is so widely used, with over 2 billion users, it has become a part of everyday life. Furthermore, it provides easy use for data entry, as it is similar to the applications mentioned above, that all the data automatically updates in the patients records. Within the health world SMS is used to remind and or prompt patients to perform a certain action. Examples include reminding patients when their appointments are, where evidence shows that with the sending out of SMS reminders there has been an increase in people attending their appointments.
SMS can also be helpful in more serious situations, such as people suffering from mental health disorders, and eating disorders. A positive outcome of the use of SMS with mentally ill patients occurred when ext messages of a suicidal nature were sent to a nurse, she was then able to get in contact with a local crisis team, while sating in contact with the patient until they arrived.
Despite the positives that using SMS provides to the health profession, there are also some ethical considerations to take into account. The main issue is security for both the transmitted and stored information. As all of the information sent from a mobile phone is stored in the phone company's data. Furthermore, the health professionals that are utilising smart phones need to ensure that the information that they are keeping for data entry is sufficiently secure, and they must inform patients to take the same measures from their end. Furthermore, some health professionals may not want to jump on the bandwagon as it may be seen as unprofessional to be SMSing clients.
As this is all so new, it is hard to see where it may go. I believe that people will embrace the applications such as heart monitoring. However, due to the ethical considerations that need to be taken into account, SMSing clients will either hit off, and be integrated effectively into the health system. Or it may be deemed unprofessional and/or damaging to the patient in some way and it will cease to exist. Only time will tell.
References:
Anthony, K, Merz, D, & Goss, S 2010 'Chapter 3: Using Cell.Mobile Phone SMS For Therapeutic Intervention', The Use of Technology in Mental Health, Charles C Thomas Published Ltd, Springfield.
Busk, NK 'Smartphone Etiquette: Do We Need a Smartphone Etiquette?', viewed 14 May 2012
<http://ninakirstineis.me/wp-content/uploads/BMMS-Nina.pdf>
Campling, SJ 2011 'Book Review; A Review on iRecovery-iPhone/iPad Application', Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity:The Journal of Treatment & Prevention, 18, 3, pp.188-190, viewed 30 April 2012
<http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10720162.2011.607737>
Leijedekkers, P & Gay, V 2006 'Personal Heart Monitoring and Rehabilitation System using Smart Phones', International Conference on Mobile Business: The Comuter Society, viewed 30 April 2012
<http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?reload=true&arnumber=4124124&contentType=Conference+Publications>
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