Mobile Health Care Apps Present Challenges for Low-Income Patients
<p>Mobile applications, or apps, have the potential to help patients with chronic conditions manage their health better. They can provide care reminders, help monitor symptoms, and enable patients and providers to track health data over time.</p><p>But Commonwealth Fund–supported research published in the <em>Journal of General Internal Medicine</em> shows that, as currently designed, health apps can present challenges to low-income adults, especially those with low health literacy. Based on their observational study of adults using apps to manage their chronic conditions, Urmimala Sarkar, M.D., David W. Bates, M.D., and colleagues found that the participants could complete only a minority of tasks without any assistance.</p>
<p>To reduce health disparities, the authors say, app developers will need to ensure their products are tailored to the needs of populations that are likely to benefit the most from their use.</p>