Happy Friday!
I had the day off today, so I though this would be a great opportunity to brew a cup of coffee and read through some of the new posts in my Feedly reader. Yesterday was my 1st time setting up an RSS feed, and after doing so, I think I'm really going to enjoy it! I love being organized and the fact that I can categorize, sort and read about topics that I am interested all in one place is very exciting for me.
One of the first things that I subscribed to was the New York Times Heath Research section. I came across an article in the "well" blog called Using Phones to Connect Children to Health Care. In my health promotion class last semester, we learned about how technology can shape the future of health promotion as a source of sharing health information, so when I came across this post in my reader, I immediately needed to read it in full.
It was interesting to read about how health care can be incorporated into technology, especially cell phones, that new generations are using on a daily basis. Although I do believe that it is necessary for face to face check ups and assessments, I also feel that technology can be very useful for ensuring that those living with chronic illness are following their health regimens. The blog post mentions that teenagers with chronic illnesses such as Type 1 diabetes may follow regimens better with text reminders. This is a very innovative way to reach patients, and in my opinion, more effective than providing them with pages of literature to read through.
In the future, I can see technology being more prominent within the health care field because we live in a digital world. Some of the important factors involved in achieving a high performing health system are patient centeredness, efficiency, and timeliness. Technology is readily accessible and something that is used by several patients today. Thus, in many ways it can be used to contribute to a high performing system.
Hi Megan, you might be interesting it investigating more about the quantified self movement. I think that the combination of all the latest fitness tracking gadgets when paired together with health data could be very interesting for both population health and for individual health! Cheers, Rebecca
ReplyDeleteHi Megan,
ReplyDeleteI too really enjoyed the convenience and organization that Feedly immediately brought to my life. I am an extremely organized person so I find the tool's ability to aggregate all of my interests into one place, and in categories, very attractive.
I found that New York Times article very interesting. I completely agree with Perri Klass, in that text-based notifications will undoubtedly increase the extent to which teenagers follow their health regimens, as they are extremely forgetful (including myself being almost 21). However the more I read of this article, the more I began to wonder about potential technology issues like robotic surgery complications, cyber-security and all around data integrity.
Although there are numerous benefits associated with the continuous development of technology in the health sector, do you believe they outweigh the potential threats?
Stephen