A new trend has been gaining ground in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand — health care text messaging. And texting for health care purposes is still yet to catch on fully in the United States, reported the Wall Street Journal.
Here are some health texting examples around the world…
In England, some women are getting text messages to help remind them to take their birth control. In Australia, patients with AIDS get reminders and instructions for their medications via text. In New Zealand, people can be sent supportive text messages after completing a smoking-cessation program.
It’s still yet to take force in the U.S. But some California teen residents are starting to use health care texting.
A few cellular providers provide residents with a number they can text to get health care information. For example, a teenager living in San Francisco with Metro PCS can get answers about sex education by texting “SEXINFO ”.
Health care professionals warn that the benefits, risks, and reliability of health texting should be tested more in the future. But using a mobile device for health care reasons could be beneficial in many different cases.
“A division of the U.S. Army is trying to get funding for a program that could support soldiers with brain injuries… the service would send daily questions to patients’ cellphones to determine whether they are adhering to their therapy programs at home, ” writes the Journal.
To be sure, Dr. Rifat Atun, a professor of international health management at Imperial College in London, wants to see randomized clinical trials to test health care text messaging.