New technology helping fight against diabetes

Two innovations in mobile health in the United States are helping diabetes patients manage their condition. The projects, which will be tested in two communities over the next couple of months and properly launched in the autum, are based on mobile devices that help in the assessment of the risk of type 2 diabetes, as well as offering useful health information .
The campaigns, which are funded by the US Department of Health and Human Services and supported by organisations such as the American Diabetes Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), will focus on the Crescent City Beacon Community in New Orleans and the Southeast Michigan Beacon Community in Detroit.
People will be able to carry out an interactive risk assessment from their mobile phones using short message service (SMS), and can receive messages about health education and treatment about diabetes . The programmes will be based on the national Text4Baby campaign by mobile health provider Voxiva.
Another main goal of the scheme will be to help those diabetics who are still undiagnosed those people who at risk of diabetes, and mean they can receive tailoring information based on their own risk factors and therefore better treatment .
Aaron McKetha, director of one of the community programmes, commented “The mobile health campaigns planned for Detroit and New Orleans are geared toward helping more patients understand their risk factors for the disease and connect them to their doctors, clinics, and other community resources to better manage their health.”