Title: Transforming online communities into support environments for chronic disease management through cell phones and social networks

Authors: Nilmini Wickramasinghe, Steve Goldberg

Addresses: Centre for Management of Medical Technology, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, USA; RMIT University, Australia. ' INET International Inc., Thornhill, Ontario, Canada

Abstract: Diabetes is a chronic disease that increases exponentially. Its consequences are long-term and problematic. To date, there is no cure and patients must rely on appropriate and constant monitoring to maintain a state of health that is as good as possible. This paper proposes a superior method that is grounded in wireless technology and social networks to enable the effective and efficient monitoring of patients suffering from diabetes.

Keywords: chronic disease management; diabetes; information technology; communications technology; ICT; knowledge-based healthcare; electronic healthcare; e-healthcare; wireless communications; social networks; patient monitoring; cell phones; mobile phones; mobile communications; chronic diseases.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNVO.2010.035407

International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, 2010 Vol.7 No.6, pp.581 - 591

Published online: 30 Sep 2010 *

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