mHealth well suited for homeless patients

Homeless emergency department patients own cell phones at high rates and are likely to engage in mobile health, according to a study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

"Patients who are homeless experience high levels of unmet health needs and poor access to primary care," the study's authors wrotes. "Thus it is not surprising that people who are homeless represent a disproportionate share of emergency department patients."

Nevertheless, more than 70 percent of the homeless ED population in the study owned cell phones with the ability to text and receive calls. As a result, the authors argue that ED providers can increase connectivity for mHealth purposes including referrals, appointment and medication reminders, and providing relevant information for health management, to the homeless.

"This connectivity may be an even more important tool for homeless patients because they may not have access to health information from primary care providers or be exposed to health information through formal education," study authors wrote. "Smartphones can meet their internet and application needs as they relate to healthcare when stable housing with landlines, desktops, laptops and Wi-Fi access are not available."

In the study, homeless ED patients were significantly more likely to want information on chronic health and social problems such as mental health, smoking cessation, alcohol and other substance abuse, pregnancy and domestic violence than their stably housed counterparts. Those identifying as homeless were slightly more likely to look up health information (64 percent) than stably housed ED patients (59.81 percent) and twice as likely to look up health information than the general population as reported in previous studies, stated the article.

"Our expanded knowledge about the desire for connectivity by patients who are homeless informs opportunities for prevention and intervention to improve the health of this vulnerable population and potentially decrease the cost of healthcare," concluded the article.