NSU Launches Center to Deliver Health Care Solutions through Social Media and Cell Phones

Nova Southeastern University’s College of Pharmacy recently launched America’s first Center for Consumer Health Informatics Research to deliver health care solutions through social media and cell phones.

 

The center’s mission is to make new health discoveries using consumer health informatics (integration of patient preferences, behaviors, and technology) to improve health. It will use the participatory medicine model to gain insight about patient habits and other trends in health care. These discoveries can then be used to help the public make better informed personal health care decisions.

 

The center plans to deliver health and wellness information such as tips to manage diabetes through social media and mobile phones. It will also analyze whether health interventions delivered on those platforms can help patients better manage chronic health conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, etc.

 

Research efforts at the center are already underway with a trio of mobile/cell phone health projects known as mHealth. These include a study to measure the impact of text messaging and health literacy on medication adherence in patients with type 2 diabetes.