The rapidly increasing number of individuals suffering from chronic diseases is placing an unprecedented demand on the traditional healthcare. The medical care costs of people with chronic diseases account for more than 75% of the estimated $1.4 trillion for medical care costs in the United States. Yet, there are significant challenges in creating technologies that enable individuals to proactively manage their health and that enable physicians, therapists and educators to effectively and efficiently treat people with chronic, long-term health challenges. This research examines the role of personal health technologies for individuals and health care practitioners engaged in chronic disease management and disease prevention and wellness. Building on our initial research in technologies for diabetes management, we propose four threads of inquiry that are integrated into our research activities: (1) Mobile Technologies for Personalized Health, (2) Automated Techniques for In-The-Moment Health Advice, (3) Tools for Experimentation, and (4) Measurement Techniques to Assess Personal Health Care Technologies.
The broad goal is to design technologies that help people take ownership of their own health and wellness. Advancing the use of information technologies outside of the scope of traditional critical care is of paramount importance for making progress in this thorny area. Research results will begin to push the influence of health technologies ?up the chain? from disease management to disease prevention and wellness.
