Support Groups on Apps: Help at the reach of our thumbs

Stanford UniversityMobile Health Without Borders

Willian Muñoz M.D.Physician Assistant

Asthma Allergy Centerdr.wmunoz@gmail.com

The day they become “patients”..

The problem:

OverviewThe number of patients coping with chronic conditions seems to be growing because of improvements in treatments

and increases in survival times, particularly for conditions such as HIV infection and some malignancies.

“Chronic diseases - such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes - are the leading causes of death and disability in the United States. These diseases account for seven of every 10 deaths and affect the quality of life of 90 million Americans.”

Department of Health

Information for a Healthy New York

“Chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, are by far the leading cause of mortality in the world, representing 60% of all deaths. Out of the 35 million people who died from chronic disease in 2005, half were under 70 and half were women.This invisible epidemic is an under-appreciated cause of poverty and hinders the economic development of many countries. Contrary to common perception, 80% of chronic disease deaths occur in low and middle income countries.”

World Health Organization

Meanwhile...

“The worldwide mobile phone market is forecast to grow 7.3% year over year in 2013, marking a sharp rebound from the nearly flat (1.2%) growth experienced in 2012. Strong demand for smartphones across all geographies will drive much of this growth as worldwide smartphone shipments are expected to surpass 1 billion units for the first time in a single year.”

International Data Corporation (IDC)

"Two years ago, the worldwide smartphone market flirted with shipping half a billion units for the first time – to double that in just two years highlights the ubiquity that smartphones have achieved. The smartphone has gone from being a cutting-edge communications tool to becoming an essential component in the everyday lives of billions of consumers."

Ramon Llamas, Research Manager with IDC's Mobile Phone team.

Growing of mHealth According to the World Bank, three quarters of people on Earth have access to a mobile phone .

There are now at least 6 billion mobile phone subscriptions active, up from 1 billion in the year 2000 -- and 5 billion of those are in developing countries. So a key way cell phones change the world is what they were designed for: communication.

As cell phones have become commonplace in the developing world, the field of "mHealth" (mobile health) has emerged. mHealth programs connect remote communities with healthcare services and expertise, all conducted using cell phones.

Health workers in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa use cell phones to contact medical specialists , who can help address critical health issues. That helps field workers determine what's treatable in the field, and identify patients who may need to be taken to a hospital.

Chris Higgins

Despite all the effort governments put into improving healthcare systems, we keep getting a common feedback from patients worldwide…

“I didn’t get appropriate help”

All of thisMakes us ask ourselves….

We need to create a global support group app

We need Isupport

Understanding support groups

A support group is a gathering of people who share a common health concern or interest. A support group usually focuses on a specific situation or condition, such as breast cancer, diabetes, heart disease, addiction or long-term caregiving, for example. Support groups are not the same as group therapy sessions. Group therapy is a formal type of mental health treatment that brings together several people with similar conditions under the guidance of a trained mental health provider.

Support groups may be formed by a lay person with the condition or by someone interested in it, such as a family member. In some cases, support groups may be formed by nonprofit organizations, advocacy organizations, mental health clinics or other organizations.

Support groups also come in a variety of formats, including in person, on the Internet or by telephone. They may be led by professional facilitators — such as a nurse, social worker or psychologist — or by group members. Some groups are educational and structured. For example, the group leader may invite a doctor, psychologist, nurse or social worker to talk about a topic related to the group's needs. Other support groups emphasize emotional support and shared experiences.

Healthy Lifestyle

Mayo Clinic

Benefits of support groups Members of a support group typically share their personal experiences and offer one another emotional comfort and

moral support. They may also offer practical advice and tips to help other patients cope others situations.

Benefits of participating in support groups may include:

• Feeling less lonely, isolated or judged

• Gaining a sense of empowerment and control

• Improving your coping skills and sense of adjustment

• Talking openly and honestly about your feelings

• Reducing distress, depression or anxiety

• Developing a clearer understanding of what to expect with your situation

• Getting practical advice or information about treatment options

• Comparing notes about resources, such as doctors and alternative options

Healthy Lifestyle

Mayo Clinic

Isupport: proposition

• Create a platform App able to create support groups and unite individuals worldwide

• Each support group would be guided by a group leader under supervision of a doctor, psychologist, nurse or social worker

• Users would have the liberty of interacting with others anonymously

• App users through Isupport would be able to create a support group for their community according to their needs and problems

• Hospitals & Clinics would be able to help their patients by providing help, information and guidance care 24 hours a day through the help of thousands of users around the world.

Isupport: how it works

Download App from storeLogin anonymously or by social media

-Search or create a support group-Check on your community

-Start helping-Ask for help

12 3 4

Isupport: Face-to-face customer meetingsQuestions asked to 20 randomly individuals

1. Do you know what a “support group” is?

2. Do you have support group in your community?

3. Would you like a support group for your community?

4. Do you use internet to look for additional information about your or relatives medical or emotional situations?

5. In case of suffering a chronic medical/emotional condition,would you like to have an app on your smartphone to connect with others with the same actual or past condition?

6. In case of needing a support group, would you prefer to join a face to face group or through and worldwide connected app?

7. Do you like the idea of Isupport?

Results:

1. Do know what a “support group” is?

Answer: Yes 91% No 3% Don’t know/remember 6%

2. Do you have support groups in your community?

Answer: Yes 22% No 16% Don’t know/remember 62%

3. Would you like a support group for your community?

Answer: Yes 98% No % Don’t know/remember 2%

4. Do you use internet to look for additional information about your or relatives medical or emotional situations?

Answer: Yes 84% No 8% Don’t know/remember 8%

Cont. Results:5. In case of suffering a chronic medical/emotional condition,would you like

to have an app on your smartphone to connect with others with the same actual or past condition?

Answer: Yes 100% No 0% Don’t know/not sure 0%

6. In case of needing a support group, would you prefer to join a face to face group or through and worldwide connected app?

Answer: Face to face 34% App 64% Don’t know/not sure 2%

7. Do you like the idea of Isupport?

Answer: Yes 99% No 0% Don’t know/not sure 1%

Conclusions of face-to-face customer meetings

• Most of the people said that they knew what support groups were about but this reason could be more due to the easy guessing of what does the name implies than actually knowing the work of support groups or past experiences with them. Beside this “guessing doubt” we could say that this is an actual knowed tool and individuals are probably comfortable about using it , meaning that this would decrease the learning curve of using support groups on a app.

• Besides knowing what support groups are, it clearly seems that it is a resource that users are not getting the advantage of them because for the majority, the purely existence of them in their community remains unknown. Even so almost a 100% would like to have them at their reach.

• This is the era of the information and that is why a significant group of patients or relatives of patients search for additional information about a disease. We believe that the limited time of physicians because of the increasing number of patients with chronic diseases would be one of the reasons that patients start to search for the “additional help” that the healthcare system wasn't able to give them (time for daily doubts, explaining & emotional support).

Conclusions of face-to-face customer meetings• Without a doubt, all of them agreed that in case of having a chronic disease or suffering from

and emotional condition would like to have an app that it would connect them to others in the same actual or past condition. This reflect that most of them, instead of conforming with the diagnosis and treatment, have the need to talk to others and hear their experiences.

• More than half of the individuals would prefer to use a support group app than to assist physically to one. Without resting importance to the strength of the “human touch”, we can't deny that one of the difficulties of support groups in the communities is that people don't have time to actually go to a meeting. It would be easier for them to take a break at work or without leaving their home and connect rather than to travel to a meeting.

• Finally and in a our favor, most of them liked the idea of Isupport. This means that after understanding the importance of support groups, after imagining themselves passing through a difficult situation and after meditating the reach and potential of today mHealth apps, everyone would like to have help at the reach of their thumbs.

“If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have

one apple…

But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two

ideas.” George Bernard Shaw