In a joint action, the World Health Organization and the International Telecommunication Union have launched a guide to help countries implement mHealth strategies. The action is focused on developing dementia care.
The World Health Organization (WHO) published a new handbook on dementia care, based on mobile health or mDementia. With this action they seek to help countries introduce and expand existing mDementia mobile health programs focused on dementia care. Mayo Clinic explains dementia as “a group of symptoms affecting memory, thinking and social abilities severely enough to interfere with your daily life. It isn't a specific disease, but several different diseases may cause dementia.”
The mHealth solutions and interventions are delivered through mobile devices such as cell phones or tablets. The WHO's proposed handbook includes a module to reduce the risk of dementia, in addition to providing care and information for health professionals who care for people living with dementia.
“The handbook was developed by the WHO Mental Health and Substance Use Department and BeHe@lthy BeMobile (BHBM), a joint initiative between the World Health Organization and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)”.
The handbook is divided into five sections:
- Operations management;
- Technology specifications;
- Content development and adaptation;
- Promotion, participation and retention;
- Monitoring and evaluation of mDementia.
The program proposed by the handbook, has two modules, first mDementia Prevention that aims to “encourage people who are middle-aged or older to manage modifiable risk factors, such as physical inactivity, tobacco use, unhealthy diets and harmful use of alcohol, to delay the onset or slow the progression of dementia,” targeting people at risk for this condition or the general population.
The second mDementia Support module aims to improve the mental health and well-being of caregivers of dementia patients. “It is based on WHO’s skills and knowledge training programme for carers of people with dementia, iSupport.”
The guide also shows a table to learn about the context and situation where the mDementia program will be applied, and to consider what are the strengths and what are the weaknesses.
The 106-page handbook can be consulted through the following link: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/339846/9789240019966-eng.pdf
