What I Already Knew and Wanted to Know - Essay Example

Personal Research Essay due: What I Already Knew and Wanted to Know My curiosity in mobile technology started a while ago when I was seated next to an elderly woman on the park bench. She was reading a book, and I was busy chatting with friends on my IPhone. “Hey, your .phone must be able to do a lot, right?” she asked me. I agreed and proceeded to explain to her the capabilities, only that I mentioned the ones involved with social media. She told me she thought phones today are capable of more than communication using different apps. I mentioned to her a few ways in which phones could be used to transact, but I was left wondering if there were even more ways to use mobile devices. I racked my brain for the various ways in which I could utilize my expensive phone and realized I knew very little. I knew I could do mobile banking, use my phone for education purposes and run online businesses through the phone. My conversation with the elderly lady left me particularly interested in healthcare. She had been disappointed because she needed mobile technology that was linked to her healthcare, none of which I knew. However, I knew that one could make several payments and some minor transactions in the healthcare system although I was not exactly sure. It seemed to me that mobile technology in the health system was an emerging trend and had potential career opportunities. I decided to investigate the topic. I listed the things I needed to research. Using the list, I came up with my research question: what is the current status of mobile technology application in healthcare in the US? After a few weeks of research, I found answers to my questions. The Story of My Search My research took me approximately three weeks to complete. I began by reading about mobile technology in several online encyclopedias, including Britannica and Encarta. I found basic information regarding mobile technology and its possible applications. Most of the information was on specific features of mobile technology such as Bluetooth and operating systems. There was no specific article on the impact of mobile technology on healthcare, so I decided to look for information from other sources. Next, I conducted an online search on Google search engine. I combined the words ‘mobile technology’ and ‘healthcare’ and got several results. For purposes of information reliability, I chose only the sites of education institutions, government institutions, and peer-reviewed journal articles. The National Institutes of Health website provided an overview of the extent of mobile technology use in the United States and globally. Through a question and answer format, it touched on several areas including specific applications that were being utilized currently. Most of the sites had information on the prospective uses of mobile technology. The trend showed that mobile technology use in healthcare is still in its initial stages. Having some background knowledge, I decided to look into various books on the topic. Most books agree that mobile technology has not yet been implemented fully in the healthcare sector, although there is enormous potential. Some books, for example, the Handbook of Medical and Healthcare Technologies, provided information on specific mobile applications that were being used currently. It categorizes the applications in various groups such as diagnostic, remote monitoring, medication adherence, and access to healthcare information applications. It lists some applications including DrawMD, MedSpeak and EZ Derm’s EHR among others. To find out the recent research on mobile technology applications in healthcare, I conducted a search on Google Scholar, which includes only journal articles and books. I used the search terms ‘mobile technology’ and ‘healthcare’ and specified the period (not earlier than 2010). Several results were obtained, including observational studies, randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses. I selected the most relevant articles after seeing the title and reading the abstract. Similar to the literature in the books, journal articles also report that utilization of mobile technology is still in its initial stages. Most of the applications involve health monitoring, communication between physicians and patients and access to health information. The researchers agree that there is still so much potential for mobile technology in healthcare, although some disadvantages are still present. Throughout the third week, I looked for information from books in the school library. I searched through the technology and health sections to find any relevant materials. However, the exact information I was looking for could only be found in online resources, so I used the resources I had already gathered. I also viewed several discussions on mobile technology and healthcare in online forums to get acquainted with what was trending on the topic. Web sites of major reporting houses such as New York Times also provided more information on the topic. In three weeks’ time, I had collected enough information to begin my research report. After analyzing the information I had gathered, I decided to narrow down to specific details of mobile technology in the health sector. I concentrated on the impact of mobile technology in monitoring of chronic diseases and provision of health information to the patients. An analysis of this literature reveals evidence that mobile technology improves the delivery of health services to the patients, reduces time wastage, prevents fatal errors from happening and saves a lot of economic resources. The Search Results Chronic disease management requires constant communication between the patient and physician. Traditional methods of managing these conditions involve regular appointments with the physician or seeking medical assistance in case of an emergency. However, with mobile technology, monitoring has become less cumbersome since it encourages self-monitoring and also delivers reliable data to the physicians (Furht & Agarwal, 2013). Typically, patients acquire mobile applications that send information to the physician regarding physical exercise, length of sleep, diet and other important indicators. This method is far more reliable compared to the traditional way of patients reporting their physical activity pattern or dietary intake. West (2012) provides several examples of how mobile technology has been used to facilitate monitoring of chronic conditions. For instance, in Tijuana, health care workers employ a method of diabetes self-monitoring. Patients can access information on diabetes and self-monitoring through their phones and also send interactive questionnaires to physicians. The patients’ responses are saved in a database and are available to all health staff for reviews and follow-up. The system also identifies out-of-range indicator levels reported by the patients and sends alerts immediately. It also notifies both the patient and physicians in instances of lack of adherence to tests and classes. Mobile applications have also been developed to suit the needs of adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus. In a pilot study conducted in Canada among adolescents with type 1 diabetes, interviews were conducted to determine the issues that faced the participants. This information was then used to develop an app running on iPhone or iPod Touch platforms. The participants were then given the app and a glucometer with a Bluetooth adapter to transfer the information to the app. The outcome measured was the frequency of blood glucose measurement during the study, compared with the previous twelve weeks. The outcome was positive, with almost all the participants stating that they would continue with the system. However, the authors recommended that the system could be extended to include other important services such as guiding patient actions and decision-making based on the blood glucose level readings (Cafazzo et al., 2012). Application of mobile technology in health monitoring has also been utilized for other purposes such as following up substance users during withdrawal. Analysts from the University of Massachusetts, Medical School have come up with a device called iHeal. It is worn and monitors skin temperatures and nervous system activity associated with cravings for drugs. This data is then sent to physicians, together with self-reported stress levels. Physicians can then determine any risky behavior or physiological patterns and offer appropriate interventions through text, audio or video formats. The project has reported positive results among the participants (Boyer et al., 2012). In another study, researchers investigated the effect of mobile technology and home blood pressure monitoring for hypertension management among patients in Mexico and Honduras (Piette et al., 2012). Patients with hypertension were identified and enrolled in the program where they received weekly automated telephone calls and a home blood pressure monitor. They were followed up, and the blood pressure monitored for changes. At the end of the intervention, the patients reported progress in health. There was improvement in the management of hypertension, less instances of medical complications, less depressive symptoms, more satisfaction with care, and general health improvement (Piette et al., 2012). These are some of the examples of applications in the monitoring of chronic diseases using mobile technology. My search provided many other examples such as case studies in China (West, 2012). Others include applications to help patients stop smoking (Abroms, Padmanabhan, Thaweethai & Philips, 2011). Care for the elderly (Lee & Carlisle, 2011), and ease of access to health information (Dinh, Lee, Niyato & Wang, 2013) are also some areas where mobile is utilized. Currently, application of mobile technology has been applied in many areas of healthcare, in innovative ways. The trend shows that even more capabilities are going to be implemented soon enough since the little application presently is producing positive results. More research is mandatory to integrate other services such as medical journals, health institutions and professionals on a common mobile platform to improve service delivery. From the available information, my research questions have been answered. I realized that mobile technology is being used extensively in healthcare, only that people should be conversant (Kalaichandran, 2015; Collins, 2011). Most research emphasized applying this technology to areas with limited infrastructure such as labs and hospitals (Novak, 2012). I did not do any interviews because most of the professionals I approached were busy and required an earlier notice. I will communicate in advance the next time I will be doing a personal research. What I Have Gained as a Researcher This personal research has been very helpful to me. I have honed my life skills during my research process, including time management, organization and communication skills. I have also learned about the various referencing styles such as Harvard, MLA and APA, and how to use them while citing my sources. I have also perfected my writing skills. I realized that it was important to make an outline and draft before writing the main paper to avoid mixing up ideas. Most importantly, I found answers to my research questions, and this motivated me to do more personal research in my areas of interest. References Abroms, L. C., Padmanabhan, N., Thaweethai, L., & Phillips, T. (2011). iPhone apps for smoking cessation: a content analysis. American journal of preventive medicine, 40(3), 279-285. Boyer, E. W., Fletcher, R., Fay, R. J., Smelson, D., Ziedonis, D., & Picard, R. W. (2012). Preliminary efforts directed toward the detection of craving of illicit substances: the iHeal project. Journal of Medical Toxicology, 8(1), 5-9. Collins, F. (2011). Mobile Technology and Health Care, From NIH Director Dr. Francis S. Collins | NIH MedlinePlus the Magazine. Retrieved February 17, 2015, from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/magazine/issues/winter11/articles/winter11pg2- 3.html Dinh, H. T., Lee, C., Niyato, D., & Wang, P. (2013). A survey of mobile cloud computing: architecture, applications, and approaches. Wireless communications and mobile computing, 13(18), 1587-1611. Furht, B., & Agarwal, A. (2013). Handbook of Medical and Healthcare Technologies. New York, NY: Imprint: Springer. Kalaichandran, A. (2015, February 3). How Mobile Technology Is Changing Canadian Health Care. Retrieved February 17, 2015, from http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/amitha-kalaichandran/mobile- technology_b_6586800.html Lee, R. Y., & Carlisle, A. J. (2011). Detection of falls using accelerometers and mobile phone technology. Age and ageing, afr050. Novak, S. (2012, May 13). Exploring the Role of Mobile Technology as a Health Care Helper. Retrieved February 17, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/14/world/africa/exploring-the-role-of-mobile- technology-as-a-health-care-helper.html?_r=0 Piette, J. D., Datwani, H., Gaudioso, S., Foster, S. M., Westphal, J., Perry, W., ... & Marinec, N. (2012). Hypertension management using mobile technology and home blood pressure monitoring: results of a randomized trial in two low/middle-income countries. Telemedicine and e-Health, 18(8), 613-620. West, D. (2012). How mobile devices are transforming healthcare. Issues in technology innovation, 18(1), 1-11. Read More