This article highlights the limitations of the tendency to frame health- and wellbeing-related digital tools (mHealth technologies) as empowering devices, especially as they play an increasingly important role in the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK. It argues that mHealth technologies should instead be framed as digital companions. This shift from empowerment to companionship is advocated by showing the conceptual, ethical, and methodological issues challenging the narrative of empowerment, and by arguing that such challenges, as well as the risk of medical paternalism, can be overcome by focusing on the potential for mHealth tools to mediate the relationship between recipients of clinical advice and givers of clinical advice, in ways that allow for contextual flexibility in the balance between patiency and agency. The article concludes by stressing that reframing the narrative cannot be the only means for avoiding harm caused to the NHS as a healthcare system by the introduction of mHealth tools. Future discussion will be needed on the overarching role of responsible design.

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The Limits of Empowerment: How to Reframe the Role of mHealth Tools in the Healthcare Ecosystem

Effects of health literacy and cognitive abilities on COPD self-management behaviors: A prospective cohort study.

There are limited data on racial and ethnic disparities related to quality of life (QoL) and health literacy in adults with multiple cardiac conditions. This article evaluates the relationship between health literacy and QoL among patients with cardiac conditions in a multiethnic community in New York City.

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Low health literacy: Implications for managing cardiac patients in practice.

Background:Patients with advanced cancer are increasingly expected to self-manage. Thus far, this topic has received little systematic attention.Aim:To summarise studies describing self-management ...

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Self-management of patients with advanced cancer: A systematic review of experiences and attitudes.

Self-management (SM) includes activities that patients initiate and perform in the interest of controlling their disease and maintaining good health and well-being. This review examines the health literacy and patient activation elements of self-management interventions for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD) patients. We investigated the effects of the intervention on health-related quality of life, self-efficacy, depression, and anxiety among people with COPD. We conducted a systematic review of studies evaluating the efficacy of self-management interventions among COPD patients that also included health literacy or patient activation as keywords. Four electronic databases Medline, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar, were searched to identify eligible studies. These studies were screened against predetermined inclusion criteria. Data were extracted according to the review questions. Twenty-seven studies met the criteria for inclusion. All of the included studies incorporated health literacy components and focused on COPD and self-management skills. Three studies measured health literacy; two showed improvements in disease knowledge, and one reported a significant change in health-related behaviors. Seventeen studies aimed to build and measured self-efficacy, but none measured patient activation. Eleven studies with multicomponent interventions showed an improvement in quality of life. Six studies that focused on specific behavioral changes with frequent counseling and monitoring demonstrated improvement in self-efficacy. Two interventions that used psychosocial counseling and patient empowerment methods showed improvement in anxiety and depression. Most self-management interventions did not measure health literacy or patient activation as an outcome. Successful interventions were multicomponent and comprehensive in addressing self-management. There is a need to evaluate the impact of comprehensive self-management interventions that address and measure both health literacy and patient activation on health outcomes for COPD patients.

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Do Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD) Self-Management Interventions Consider Health Literacy and Patient Activation? A Systematic Review.

With the burden of chronic illness increasing globally, self-management is a crucial strategy in reducing healthcare costs and increasing patient quality of life. Low income and low health literacy are both associated with poorer health outcomes and higher rates of chronic disease. Thus, self-management represents an important healthcare strategy for these populations. The purpose of this study is to review self-management interventions in populations with low income or low health literacy and synthesize the efficacy of these interventions. A systematic review of trials evaluating the efficacy of self-management interventions in populations with low income or low health literacy diagnosed with a chronic illness was conducted. Electronic databases were primarily searched to identify eligible studies. Data were extracted and efficacy summarized by self-management skills, outcomes, and content tailoring. 23 studies were reviewed, with ten reporting an overall positive effect on at least one primary outcome. Effective interventions most often included problem-solving as well as taking action and/or resource utilization. A wide range of health-related outcomes were considered, were efficacious empowerment and disease-specific quality of life were found to be significant. The efficacy of interventions did not seem to vary by duration, format, or mode of delivery or whether these included individuals with low health literacy and/or low income. Tailoring did not seem to impact on efficacy. Findings suggest that self-management interventions in populations with low income or low health literacy are most effective when three to four self-management skills are utilized, particularly when problem-solving is targeted. Healthcare providers and researchers can use these findings to develop education strategies and tools for populations with low income or low health literacy to improve chronic illness self-management.

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The Effectiveness of Self-Management Interventions for Individuals with Low Health Literacy and/or Low Income: A Descriptive Systematic Review.

The effect of culturally-adapted health education interventions among culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) patients with a chronic illness: A meta-analysis and descriptive systematic review.

Katerina Leung

Papers

The Effectiveness of Self-Management Interventions for Individuals with Low Health Literacy and/or Low Income: A Descriptive Systematic Review.

The effect of culturally-adapted health education interventions among culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) patients with a chronic illness: A meta-analysis and descriptive systematic review.