According to the World Health Organisation 2017 report, half of the world lack access to basic health care services. Every year 100 million people are pushed into extreme poverty due to out-of-pocket health care costs. So how can we leverage technology to address health disparities and promote healthy and active lifestyles. On this episode of ExpertsConnect, E-learning expert, and Product Owner of TeachSomebody.com,  Kadian Davis-Owusu, (Ph.D.) explains the e-health concept and provides deeper insights into how we can exploit personal informatics and take our health into our hands. She discusses how we can leverage mobile devices and Web 3.0 to address health disparities and relieve the burden on health practitioners and the overall health care system.

SHOW NOTES:

Health disparities, a systemic challenge | Kadian briefly describes the disparities with respect to global access to healthcare, and she illustrates an example scenario [1:44]. 

Mobile devices, a solution to address health disparities | Kadian provides references to the usage of mobile devices around the globe and showcases how they can be leveraged to address health disparities [2:41].

What is E-health? | Kadian refers to the definition coined by Shaw et al., 2017 and further explains the domains of e-health classified by the said researchers [3:33]. 

Personal Informatics | Kadian shares that health in our hands and data enabling health are embodied in the notion of personal informatics [5:17]. She then explains the concept and highlights the benefits of such self-monitoring and -reporting [5:27]. 

Tools for Personal Informatics to improve our health | Examples are provided here [6:13]. 

Application areas of Personal Informatics | Various examples of application areas are given here [7:54].

Pros of Taking Health in our Hands through Personal Informatics | The benefits of exploiting the tools are discussed here [11:28].

Cons of Taking Health in our Hands through Personal Informatics | A summary of the reasons for disengagement with these tools are given here [14:16].

Notable Quotes

 "[…] If I am making positive steps to improve my health and well-being, then of course, my overall quality of life will be improved.” [12:12]

"[…] with health in our hands. It's easily accessible, a lot of these apps are free.” [13:00]

"[…] having teleconsultation is sustainable.” [13:42]

"[…] one of the main concerns for disengagement is that the benefits are not immediately recognized and people just tend to give up.” [14:44]

Kindly refer to this article for more information on e-heath.

FOLLOW Kadian:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kadiandavisowusu/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kadian-davis-owusu-ph-d-20073251/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuc3WrVsJyShfkQv_GAYbUQ

Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/show/4Lp5AKsnUWsmlfl4XmMzCK

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/expertsconnect/id1534693258

References

1.   Shaw, T., McGregor, D., Brunner, M., Keep, M., Janssen, A., & Barnet, S. (2017). What is eHealth (6)? Development of a conceptual model for eHealth: qualitative study with key informants. Journal of medical Internet research, 19 (10), e324.