Utilizing Mobile Technology Devices to Enhance Health and Quality of Life for Senior Citizens in Bangkok
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60081/SSHA.2.2.2024.299-304Keywords:
Mobile Technology, Sports Watch, Wearable Health Devices, Quality of Life, mHealthAbstract
Purpose: This research aimed to utilize mobile technology devices to enhance health and quality of life for senior citizens in a district of Bangkok. The new sport watch and mobile health devices can monitor and record all-day activity of their exercise, i.e. time, distance, speed, step, position (via GPS), heart rate, breath, blood pressure etc. Methodology: The questionnaires were designed to collect data on their health records, physical activity, and mobile health devices skill and quality of life. The target population was the seniors aged 50 up who regularly exercised at the public parks in Bangkok. Findings: The research revealed that the participants had a moderate to a high level of skill in using mobile health devices. The top types of exercises they preferred were walking, running, aerobic & dancing, bicycle and other sports at 54, 19, 16, 9 and 3 % receptively. Half (50%) of the participants suffered from the chronic diseases. They had 24 % with non-communicable diseases (NCD); Heart diseases & Strokes, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure and Cancer. Moreover, they were also found 11.43 % afflicted with Allergy and 18.57 % with Bone-related sickness and 15.71 % with other symptoms. Research Implications: With the utilization of advanced mobile technology, they revealed a high level of Quality of Life especially in Physical health, Mental health, Social and Living environment. Practical Implications: The overall average score was at a high level i.e. the seniors in the Bangkok district had a high level of quality of life by utilizing advanced mobile technology or mHealth to monitor and enhance their health through regular exercises.
References
Anderson, K., Burford, O., & Emmerton, L. (2016). Mobile Health Apps to Facilitate Self-Care: A Qualitative Study of User Experiences. PLOS ONE, May 2016; 11(5): e0156164. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156164
Bahramnezhad, F., Chalik, R., Bastani, F., Taherpour, M., & Navab, E. (2017). The social network among the elderly and its relationship with quality of life. Electronic physician, 2017; 9(5): 4306–4311. doi:10.19082/4306.
Boulos, M. N., Brewer, A. C., Karimkhani, C., Buller, D. B., & Dellavalle, R. P. (2014). Mobile medical and health apps: state of the art, concerns, regulatory control and certification. Online journal of public health informatics; 5(3): 229. doi:10.5210/ojphi.v5i3.4814
Department of Mental Health. (2019). WHOQOL-BREF-THAI Questionnaire. Ministry of Public Health: https://www.dmh.go.th/test/whoqol/ (in Thai).
Free, C., Phillips, G., Galli, L., Watson, L., Felix, L., Edwards, P., et al. (2013). The Effectiveness of Mobile-Health Technology-Based Health Behaviour Change or Disease Management Interventions for Health Care Consumers: A Systematic Review. PLOS Medicine, January 2013;10(1): e1001362. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001362
Huang, J. C. (2013). Innovative Health Care Delivery System- a Questionnaire Survey to Evaluate the Influence of Behavioral Factors on Individuals’ Acceptance of Telecare, Computing Biology Medicine, May 2013; 43(4): 281-6.
Iqbal, S. M., Mahgoub, I., Du, E., Leavitt, M. A., & Asghar, W. (2021). Advances in healthcare wearable devices. NPJ Flexible Electronics, 5(1), 9. https://scholar.google.co.th/scholar?q=Advances+in+healthcare+wearable+devices&hl=th&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart
Kelli, H.M., Witbrodt, B., Shah, A. (2017). The Future of mobile health applications and devices in cardiovascular health. Euro Med J Innov. 2017 Jan;2017:92-97. Epub 2017 Jan 10. PMID: 28191545; PMCID: PMC5298843.
Kuerbis, A., Mulliken, A., Muench, F., Moore, A. A., & Gardner, D. (2017). Older adults and mobile technology: Factors that Enhance and Inhibit Utilization in the Context of Behavioral Health. Mental Health and Addiction Research. April 2017; 2(2): 1-11, doi: 10.15761/MHAR.1000136
Kumar, S. (2013). Mobile Health Technology Evaluation: The mHealth Evidence Workshop. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, August 2013; 45 (2): 228-236.
Li, J., Ma, Q., Chan, A.H., Man, S. (2019). Health monitoring through wearable technologies for older adults: Smart wearables acceptance model. Appl. Ergon; 75:162–169. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2018.10.006.
Murfin, M. (2013). Know your apps: an evidence-based approach to the evaluation of mobile clinical applications. J Physician Assist Educ; 24(3): 38–40.
Narkprasit, C. (2021). Active exercise outcome on health and disease of senior citizens in a Bangkok district during COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Public Health and Development, 19(3), 119–129. https://he01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/AIHD-MU/article/view/251874
National Economic and Social Development Council. (2024). Report on Thailand aging population. The Nation. April 13, 2024.
Nelson, E.C., Verhagen, T., Vollenbroek-Hutten, M., Noordzij, M.L. (2019). Is Wearable Technology Becoming Part of Us? Developing and Validating a Measurement Scale for Wearable Technology Embodiment. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2019 Aug 9;7(8):e12771. doi: 10.2196/12771. PMID: 31400106; PMCID: PMC6709898.
Park, Y. T. (2016). Emerging New Era of Mobile Health Technologies. Healthcare informatics research; 22(4): 253–254. doi:10.4258/hir.2016.22.4.253
So, C.F., and Chung, W. Y. (2017). Telehealth for Diabetes Self-management in Primary Healthcare: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 2017 May 2.
Steinhubl, S. R., Muse, E. D, and Topol, E. J. (2015). The emerging field of mobile health. Sci. Transl. Med.7,283rv3-283rv3. DOI:10.1126/scitranslmed.aaa3487
Vaghefi, I., & Tulu, B. (2019). The Continued Use of Mobile Health Apps: Insights From a Longitudinal Study. JMIR mHealth and uHealth; 7(8): e12983. doi:10.2196/12983
Ventola, C. L. (2014). Mobile devices and apps for health care professionals: uses and benefits. P & T: a peer-reviewed journal for formulary management; 39(5): 356–364.
Wallask, S. (2017). Mobile technology in healthcare looks toward a brighter future. 2017. https://searchhealthit.techtarget.com/opinion/Mobile-technology-in-healthcare-looks.
Wang, J. B., et al. (2015). Wearable Sensor/ Device (Fitbit One) and SMS Text-Messaging Prompts to Increase Physical Activity in Overweight and Obese Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Telemed J E Health. 2015;21(10):782–92. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2014.0176
Wikipedia. (2019). mHealth. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MHealth
World Health Organization. (2024). Noncommunicable diseases https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/noncommunicable-diseases
Yamwong, N. (2014). Quality of Life and Physical Activities of Daily Living Among Elderly Patients at HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Medical Center. Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, April 2014; 21 (1): 37-44.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Chusak Narkprasit
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.