Pioneering mobile phone communication and analytics for better patient care
Our Mission
To conduct rigorous research and data science to support evidence-based mobile health (mHealth) programs for the improvement of global health.
Our Goals
- Foster collaborative, interdisciplinary mHealth research activities
- To understand the uptake and impact of mHealth interventions in a global health context
- Leverage AI technologies and conversational data collected by mHealth technologies to capture patient priorities and inform care
- Using mHealth interventions for international public health monitoring to optimize patient care during complex emergencies, such as COVID-19 pandemic and HIV epidemic
mHealth, also known as mobile health, refers to the application of mobile technology for the provision of health care to support patients and healthcare providers. Currently, there are more than 7 billion mobile phone subscriptions worldwide, 80% of whom live in developing countries. Thanks to the accessibility, portability, and timeliness of mobile phones, mHealth is increasingly being harnessed to improve access, engagement and delivery of health services.
Integrating mHealth interventions into existing health care systems is also considered a cost-effective solution to provide health support to even the most disadvantaged and remote populations. Applications include education and awareness, diagnostic and treatment support, remote data collection, patient monitoring, healthcare provider telecommunication, training and disease management, as well as increasing opportunities to utilize Artificial Intelligence techniques, specifically Natural Language Processing (NLP).
UBC mHealth Research Group
The UBC mHealth Research Group, led by Dr. Richard Lester, is dedicated to investigating the efficacy, effectiveness and implementation of mobile health across a variety of disease and demographic settings. Our group is currently conducting research within Canada, USA, UK, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. Kenya and Ethiopia.
