'healthcare communication' in M-HEALTH By PHARMAGEEK

Tags
Current selected tag: 'healthcare communication'. Clear

Acceptability of a Mobile Phone Support Tool for Promoting Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy Among Young Adults | M-HEALTH By PHARMAGEEK | Scoop.it

From mhealth.jmir.org - June 14, 2021 3:23 PM

Adherence to treatment is critical for successful treatment outcomes.

Although factors influencing antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence vary, young adults are less likely to adhere owing to psychosocial issues such as stigma, ART-related side effects, and a lack of access to treatment.

The Call for Life Uganda (CFLU) mobile health (mHealth) tool is a mobile phone–based technology that provides text messages or interactive voice response functionalities through a web interface and offers 4 modules of support.

Objective: This study aims to describe the acceptability and feasibility of a mobile phone support tool to promote adherence to ART among young adults in a randomized controlled trial.

Methods: An exploratory qualitative design with a phenomenological approach at 2 study sites was used. A total of 17 purposively selected young adults with HIV infection who had used the mHealth tool CFLU from 2 clinics were included. In total, 11 in-depth interviews and 1 focus group discussion were conducted to examine the following topics: experience with the CFLU tool (benefits and challenges), components of the tool, the efficiency of the system (level of comfort, ease, or difficulty in using the system), how CFLU resolved adherence challenges, and suggestions to improve CFLU. Participants belonged to 4 categories of interest: young adults on ART for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission, young adults switching to or on the second-line ART, positive partners in an HIV-discordant relationship, and young adults initiating the first-line ART. All young adults had 12 months of daily experience using the tool. Data were analyzed using NVivo version 11 software (QSR International Limited) based on a thematic approach.

Results: The CFLU mHealth tool was perceived as an acceptable intervention;

young adults reported improvement in medication adherence, strengthened clinician-patient relationships, and increased health knowledge from health tips.

Appointment reminders and symptom reporting were singled out as beneficial and helped to address the problems of forgetfulness and stigma-related issues.

HIV-related stigma was reported by a few young people. Participants requested extra support for scaling up CFLU to make it more youth friendly.

Improving the tool to reduce technical issues, including network outages and a period of software failure, was suggested. They suggested that in addition to digital solutions, other support, including the promotion of peer support meetings and the establishment of a designated space and staff members for youth, was also important.

Conclusions: This mHealth tool was an acceptable and feasible strategy for improving ART adherence and retention among young adults in resource-limited settings.

read the entire study at https://mhealth.jmir.org/2021/6/e17418/

Via nrip

mHealth platforms are helping healthcare providers with Quick Access to Decision Support Resources #hcsmeufr #esante #digitalhealth | M-HEALTH By PHARMAGEEK | Scoop.it

From mhealthintelligence.com - October 11, 2018 6:53 AM

Healthcare providers who access clinical decision support through mHealth platforms are finding a world of information at their fingertips – and they could be saving lives.

Digital technologies are changing the way medical information is gathered and exchanged. Physicians of all ages and medical subspecialties from across the globe are utilizing tools to discuss potential diagnoses and obtain second opinions.

That’s the takeaway from researchers at the Scripps Research Translational Institute who took a closer look at online crowdsourced consult platforms.

Their conclusion is that these platforms, which include social media networks like SERMO, Medscape and HealthTap, are giving providers quick access to information that’s helping them reduce serious, costly and potentially deadly medical errors.

The study, focusing on an analysis of more than 37,000 active users on the MedScape Consult network between 2015 and 2017, appears in a recent issue of NPJ Digital Medicine.

The research points to the value of a mobile health resource for clinical decision support, giving providers a real-time portal for physician-to-physician engagement. Billed as a source for “the second to hundredth opinion in medicine,” these portals allow providers to gather best practices and apply them quickly, reducing the chances of a clinical error.

The study also points to the changing nature of clinical decision support.The study noted that providers can’t necessarily rely on informal face-to-face consults with colleagues – commonly known as curbside consults – because they’re “frequently inaccurate and incomplete.” Yet they can’t just call up a nearby specialist at a moment’s notice.

The study found that : "At a time when we’re turning to artificial intelligence to help improve diagnostic accuracy, there’s still plenty of room for tapping into human intelligence via such medical consulting platforms, Artificial intelligence has been advocated as the definitive pathway for reducing misdiagnosis, But the study's findings suggest the potential for collective human intelligence, which is algorithm-free and performed rapidly on a voluntary basis, to emerge as a competitive or complementary strategy."

Via nrip

nrip's curator insight, October 11, 2018 12:38 AM

Well how surprising! Collective human intelligence still works :)

For us, its not surprising. As I been posting in my articles, speaking at my talks and offering my $0.02 in my insights, for all the talk of AI and Deep Learning, I feel technology's best use in healthcare is in automation of processes and improving communication and collaboration. And such studies show that we have lots of gain by building better tools to help clinicians communicate and collaborate better. Someday , AI "may" replace human intelligence, but not today and not anytime soon.

Acceptability of a Mobile Phone Support Tool for Promoting Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy Among Young Adults

mHealth platforms are helping healthcare providers with Quick Access to Decision Support Resources #hcsmeufr #esante #digitalhealth