Healthcare in the pocket: mapping the space of mobile-phone health interventions

Abstract

Mobile phones are becoming an increasingly important platform for the delivery of health interventions. In recent years, researchers have used mobile phones as tools for encouraging physical activity and healthy diets, for symptom monitoring in asthma and heart disease, for sending patients reminders about upcoming appointments, for supporting smoking cessation, and for a range of other health problems. This paper provides an overview of this rapidly growing body of work. We describe the features of mobile phones that make them a particularly promising platform for health interventions, and we identify five basic intervention strategies that have been used in mobile-phone health applications across different health conditions. Finally, we outline the directions for future research that could increase our understanding of functional and design requirements for the development of highly effective mobile-phone health interventions.

Figure 1

UbiFit’s glanceable display on the phone’s background screen. Different types of flowers represent different types of physical activities that the user performed this week (walking, cardio, strength training, and stretching). The butterflies indicate if the weekly activity goal was met this week (the large butterfly) and during the previous three weeks.

Figure 2

DeShazo et al.’s phone-based games for teaching nutritional skills to diabetic patients. Users are asked to estimate nutritional content of various foods. Correct answers earn users points in the games.