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Summary
Mobile phones are being used to improve nurse-patient communication and monitor health outcomes in chronic disease. Innovative applications of mobile technology are expected to increase over time in community management of cancer, heart disease, asthma and diabetes. This article focuses on mobile phone technology and its contribution to health care.
Keywords
Health communication; Information technology; Mobile phones
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THE CAPABILITIES AND ACCESSIBILITY of new technologies have been recognised in preventing, diagnosing, monitoring and treating disease, and in the development and delivery of preventive measures and proactive health promotion programmes. These technologies include internet, email and mobile phone applications, and are often referred to in health care as 'electronic health' or 'eHealth' (Pagliari et al 2005). While eHealth incorporates a range of electronic communication technologies, this article focuses on the application of mobile phones for capturing nursing documentation, monitoring health values and collecting data to demonstrate health promotion outcomes in patient care and research.
Applications of mobile phones
Mobile phones are an integral part of everyday life, although mobile phone technology is a relatively new and innovative eHealth methodology. A significant proportion of the UK population owns or has access to a mobile phone, and this form of technology is generally well accepted by most age groups (Office for National Statistics (ONS) 2007). Some nurses and medical staff use mobile phones during home visits to improve communication with hospital or community services.
Health informatics and information technology in nursing practice are increasingly recognised in government policy, such as the Department of Health's Connecting for Health Programme, which delivers the National Programme for IT (NPfTT) (House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts 2007). Text messages are used in the NHS in a combined email and text directory service called 'contact', approved for the transmission of patient data. Short message service (SMS) texts can be used to maximise the efficiency, effectiveness and equity of health delivery through improved health communication.
Mobile phone technology is used in a wide variety of...