The doctor in my pocket: examining mobile approaches to personal wellbeing

Abstract

Aims: Today’s democratized media access, online engagement, and digital clout offer global opportunities for individual influence and customized messaging strategies. As such, public health initiatives are dramatically changing as target audiences decide where to place their time and attention regarding health information. This article reports on ways in which health professionals and mobile techies are teaming up to create pocket platforms for personal wellbeing. The following work also considers how healthcare digitization and mobilization operate in relation to public wellbeing. Methods: Using a double round Delphi survey, nine industry experts were asked about the impact of new media tools on health initiatives and subsequent healthcare behaviors. The panel also addressed the impact and efficacy of the mobile health movement. Results: Expert testimony identified ways in which millennial media can encourage (and sometimes prevent) improved patient, community, and population health outcomes. Industry leaders further addressed strategic moves healthcare professionals are making to ensure personal healthcare communication remains relevant, accessible, and attainable for the general public. Clear themes emerged throughout the iterative Delphi process, resulting in the overarching categories of information access, information literacy, patient privacy, patient accountability, physician engagement, and healthcare quality. Conclusions: This work connects theory with practice by examining developing health communication strategies through compliance-gaining choice models and modern marketing research. Findings delineate best practices for health communication and administration in the digital age, providing both a critical account of and practical approach to healthcare messaging within the millennial context. Results call attention to the impact of media platforms on information distribution, adaptive communication strategies, and overall health communication processes. The study invites further discussion regarding digital shifts in healthcare messaging and subsequent influences on patient/consumer compliance.