Summary
Objectives
Telehealth has an increasing role in future healthcare. This paper seeks to define
and understand recent advances in provision of tele-healthcare through use of personal
handheld computing devices, and suggests how such personalized solutions offer further
opportunities for progress.
Methods
We considered the current status of personal handheld computing devices for personalizing
healthcare, through review of examples in the literature and web sources.
Results
We have identified the following four generic roles for personal handheld computing
devices in personalized healthcare: educational, social networking and games, monitoring
with notifications/reminders, and online/offline tele-consultations. We discuss examples
of these in two settings: healthcare facilities and patient home.
Conclusion
Advances in latest handheld computing devices have made tele-healthcare more personalized
and increasingly possible even in the absence of the care provider.
Keywords
Personal handheld computing devices; personalizing healthcare - tele-healthcare -
telehealth
