Researchers at the University of Washington are trying to help cancer patients with an online system called HealthWeaver. The program, HealthWeaver, includes a social networking tool that aims to help cancer patients manage information about their healthcare, have their questions answered and create a network with others who can aid them in their treatment. It allows these cancer patients to ask for assistance with daily activities that they now can not do anymore without help.
The social networking aspect of it allows patients to interact with others in other parts of the country or maybe even world who are going through the same thing. Other programs like HealthWeaver include CaringBridge and Lotsa Helping Hands. What makes HealthWeaver a little different is that it is not just a social networking tool. It also gives the user the capability to post how their feelings about their treatment or even how they are feeling that day and updates about their health. The creators of this program are now trying to create a mobile application.
This is similar to James' post about the family who had the child diagnosed with that rare disorder who turned to social networking and found other families going through the same situation. However, this program offers a little more. This program just shows how social media can improve health outcomes. It does not necessarily help cure the cancer the patient has, but does help with improving patients quality of life and helps them better manage and understand their illness. An example as learned in some of my classes, some cancer patients become depressed when diagnosed, but with this program it may help prevent that. More and more programs like this are being developed and I believe it will greatly improve the healthcare field one way or another.
http://cbpowell.wordpress.com/2010/07/08/cnn-covers-healthweaver-my-teams-software-for-cancer-patients/
No comments:
Post a Comment