Mobile Apps and Wearables Can Benefit Underserved Populations

It's easy to assume that underserved populations, in both urban and rural communities, would have disparate access to mobile apps and wearables simply because of the cost or lack of access to broadband and wireless networks.  The FCC recently tracked the intersection of health and broadband access through a series of national maps. For example, the Broadband Health Double Burden Areas, maps five states with areas reporting incidence of chronic disease above the national average. At the same time, they report fixed broadband access percentages in rural areas that are, on average, below 50% and in some cases far below. These maps can also be filtered by rates of obesity, diabetes, and preventable hospitalizations to identify high risk areas which also lack broadband. A second map shows broadband and chronic disease. Many of the areas with the highest diabetes prevalence also have lower broadband access.

A study is now underway with 300 participants who are uninsured or on Medicaid in southern California; another study in rural Washington is using an app to help improve clinical parameters for diabetes, including health coaching.  The app is being customized to different lifestyles and will soon be translated into Spanish.  Some participants are benefitting through grants to community health centers. Diabetes Prevention Programs are being incentivized by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), including ones that use online coaching. As a sidelight, Pew Research Center recently published survey results showing that 80% of Latino adults accessed the internet through mobile devices. 

Finally, groups like Recycle Health are collecting fitness devices that consumers no longer use and are passing them on to low income individuals with chronic conditions. Many innovations are reaching out to underserved populations to enable the effective use of wearables and apps for health.