Mobile Health Round-up
Date: 29 June 2018
iMOKO proof of concept due to launch in July
More than 15,000 children will be involved in a proof-of-concept trial of the iMOKO app that enables teachers at
participating kohanga, day-care centres and schools to securely send health information about students to a digital
health team, who respond with a diagnosis and a treatment plan.
App developer Lance O’Sullivan says a proof of concept for iMOKO is being planned and he hopes to launch in July. The
number of children is yet to be determined, but it will be more than 15,000 and involve children from Otago and
Southland.
“We are looking at the number of children we need to reach to have this programme be evaluated and tested enough to be
able to say it’s a robust high quality effective model of care for children in New Zealand,” he says.
NZBS updates donor app
New Zealand Blood Service has launched major updates to its Donor App. Downloaded over 66,000 times, the app allows
donors to book appointments and sends a notification when their blood has been used.
New features include a personal notes section, where donors can record their own notes, and notifications that a user is
eligible to give blood again, with a link to the next available appointment in their default location. It also has a
range of NZBS-themed selfie frames that donors can share on social media.
Health literacy intervention using interactive app proves effective
Research showing the benefits of a health literacy intervention trial on knowledge about cardiovascular disease
medications among Māori in New Zealand has been published in the British Medical Journal. The trial, which also involved indigenous people from Australia and Canada, involved an education session with an
interactive tablet app and was found to be “highly effective”.
“The findings from this study have important implications for health services working with populations with low health
literacy more generally,” the paper concludes.
ZOOM medicines app launched
An app to improve medication adherence has been launched. Called ZOOM, patients ask their GP to send a prescription
directly to it and the patient confirms their details via the app. Medicines are then delivered to the patient and
relevant information is loaded onto the app.
ZOOM reminds patients to take their medication and notifies when a repeat is due. It also al¬lows a pharmacist to
monitor a patient’s self-reported medica¬tion compliance, and to contact the patient and their GP if medi¬cation is
missed.
New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation creates online community
More than 1000 people have joined an online community for people affected by breast cancer via an app that was launched
in late 2016. The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation developed an app with Melon Health called mybc, which is an
online community for New Zealanders affected by breast cancer.
The app allows users to create a profile and share thoughts and milestones with other members of the community. They can
also private message, video or voice call a qualified breast nurse and keep an online diary.
ends