Mobile The Key to Eating Less, Exercising More, According to New White Paper

Oct. 3, 2011 - PRLog -- Seattle, WA.  Behavior changes do not last. This is evident as much from our own daily experiences as from the reports of clinical studies and evaluations of commercial programs.  However, a new white paper entitled "Is Mobile the Prescription for Sustained Behavior Change" suggests that the confluence of soaring health care costs, new scientific knowledge about how to change behaviors and the fact that we all carry cell phones may change all that.

The white paper's authors, principals in the new nonprofit, Health Innoventions, researched and wrote the paper as a companion document to the upcoming health conference “Consumer-Centric Health: Models for Change” on October 12-13 at Seattle University.  The conference addresses sustained behavior change from the perspective of behavioral, wellness, medical and technology orientations and features more than 20 front line experts and thought leaders representing employers, insurers, health care providers and technologists. (For information about the conference, visit http://www.healthinnoventions.org)

Mobile phones, as one of three drivers highlighted in the white paper, play a crucial role in helping to dramatically improve the efficacy of health interventions by providing 24/7 contact in the real world of patients and health consumers. "The ability to both collect data in the moment - biometric, physiological, emotional - and then deliver individualized messages holds the promise of more effective behavior interventions," says Max Wells, the white paper's co-author, "as well as provide access to data for the development of an even better understanding of health-related behaviors."

Accrued scientific knowledge and unprecedented health and concomitant financial imperatives are also driving us towards the tipping point.  "We're certainly smarter about the ingredients for effective behavior change on an individual level," adds co-author Michael Gallelli, "and, perhaps more importantly, the need to apply broader socio-environmental interventions alongside the individual ones."

The white paper is released against the backdrop of a skyrocketing health care bill and numerous stakeholders, such as employers, payers, providers and consumers, themselves, grappling for ways to improve health outcomes and lower costs.   While the authors argue that consumer behavior change is a key component of addressing the nation's healthcare crisis, they are clear to state that it is one among a number of other components that are needed in aggregate.  Other factors include: changes in payment to encourage accountable and coordinated care, use of evidence-based models, employing process improvement techniques, and removing legal obstacles to coordination. The authors contend that the proposed systemic re-architecture requires changes in organizations (payers and providers) comprised of individuals, and individuals themselves (heath consumers) who must all change their behaviors for the other components to be effective.

"Is Mobile the Prescription For Sustained Behavior Change?" is comprised of seven sections:
1.   3 Key Findings
2.   Introduction
3.   Employer, Payer, Provide and Consumer Perspectives on Behavior Change
4.   What We Know About Behavior Change
5.   What We Know About Maintaining Behavior
6.   How Mobile Can Help in Sustaining Behavior
7.   Summary

For a free copy of the paper, go to http://www.healthinnoventions.org/white-paper-download

About Health Innoventions
Health Innoventions promotes the translation and dissemination of actionable consumer-centric information to foster health-enhancing programs, technology and policy through objective research, consulting services and conference-based learning and discourse.  It is a nonprofit based in Seattle, Washington.  For information, please visit
http://www.healthinnoventions.org on the web or contact Health Innoventions at info@healthinnoventions.org.  Follow Health Innoventions on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/hinnoventions (@hinnoventions).

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HEALTH INNOVENTIONS serves the public good by promoting the translation and dissemination of actionable consumer-centric information to support health-enhancing programs, technology and policy.