In the first part of the Diabetes Prevention, Care, and Education in the Digital Age series, John Piette, PhD, shares his insights on improving diabetes treatment, access, and outcomes using mobile health tools.

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Transcription:

JOHN PIETTE: Looking more broadly, I think we're very excited about the potential of mobile health tools.

When I think about mHealth [mobile health], as opposed to eHealth or telehealth, I'm personally talking about what we call asynchronous communication, a fancy term that generally means that the two people are not online at the same time. time. So it could be a text message to a patient, or an automated call with feedback to the provider, another community health worker, or others on the patient's care team. health. This can be an app.

In our own work, we try to go to the lowest common denominator, and that's usually automated text messages or calls that could be used regardless of whether someone has the means or access to a device special.

In general, the most important message about membership is that the people who need support the most and find the most value in that support are the most likely to use it. I have often found that medical professionals assume that everyone is like us, when in reality we know that is not the case. I think it's really our role, though, in the scientific world to really step back from our own preconceptions of what's going to work and actually test it. And often, we've been pleasantly surprised by how excited people are to take advantage of the increased communication and education they can have through mHealth.

The first generation of mobile health systems that would provide feedback to clinical teams have had some success, but limited success because clinical teams are often overwhelmed with information. And they're overwhelmed by the number of patients in the waiting room, not to mention their ability to meet the needs of a patient who has a question about their medications but is out in the community. So, through the CarePartner program, we've tried to engage in a more productive way – family caregivers, like adult children, living outside of the home of a person with diabetes – and provide them with support. One of CarePartners' initial concerns was that we were going to stress these adult children. They have their lives, they have their children and their jobs. Giving them more information about their mother or father who might be ill could make them feel worse. Fortunately, what we found is that it makes them less stressed.

I guess those are the two things I would say if healthcare professionals are considering adopting mobile health tools. First, suspend your disbelief. Don't assume. Not all patients are like us. Simply because it might not be something that would work for you or something that you would like to have. In our experience, diverse populations, especially some of the neediest, really appreciate the frequent reminders, support, and attention that providers wish they could give, but don't have the time or resources. But now we can benefit from mobile health.

Try to be a little more open-minded. These mobile health tools bundle a lot of different services that may be helpful to some of your patients, so give them a try. Ask your patients what they like, and I bet you'll discover things that will actually improve your patient's experience of self-care support.

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