The Journal of mHealth Vol 2 issue 5 (Oct) | Page 24

BOOK REVIEW: mHealth: Multidisciplinary Verticals

mHealth:
Multidisciplinary Verticals
Edited by Sasan Adibi. 754 Pages - 83 B/W
Illustrations. CRC Press, 2014. £108. ISBN
978-1-4822-1480-2 (Hardback)

ogy: A Guide for Decision Makers and
Policy Makers’ (p591) provide useful
and practical methodology for industry
professionals dealing with deployment
and service integration, whilst chapters
like the one titled ‘mHealth and Medical
Imaging’ (p651) deal specifically with particular healthcare disciplines.

By Matthew Driver
As healthcare plays catch-up to many
industries that have already been significantly altered through the introduction
of mobile and connected technologies,
it is often overlooked that the digital
revolution across the medical and health
disciplines is actually already well underway. Projects and pilots that utilise these
mobile delivery methods have been trialled for a number of years around the
world, often with very successful results.
The problem is that dissemination of
this evidence-base has, until recently,
been slow. In this book the editor brings
together a comprehensive collection of
evidence and discussion that assesses the
role mHealth is already having in healthcare delivery around the world and analyses the relevant impacts this can, and
will, have throughout the industry vertical. The book goes beyond discussion to
introduce specific analysis, research and
targeted guidance frameworks for professionals working in the industry.
The volume’s 36 chapters span a range
of inter-related themes from the rapidly
changing mobile and digital health landscape. Demonstrating significant collaboration, the title draws upon contributions from over 102 professional authors
and quotes exemplar projects and case
studies from over 20 different countries.
This collection of global evidence provides a sound synopsis which allows the
reader to gain a broad understanding of
the many different areas where mobile
technologies are changing the delivery
and management of modern healthcare.
Each contribution differs in its approach
and relevant subject matter. These have
been edited to give a wide-ranging discussion of the current use and deployment cases of mobile and digital health
solutions. Covering the multidisciplinary
verticals of mobile health the book introduces nine main domains of mHealth,
namely: Preventative and curative

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October 2015

Whilst many titles covering the mHealth
theme focus solely on the technological aspects, here the editor has taken a
refreshing step to try and encompass the
complete multi-disciplinary nature of
mobile and connected health technologies. The title successfully moves beyond
a simple discussion of the diverse technologies to consider the full spectrum of
implications these technologies bring to
the healthcare industry.
medicine; consumer and patient-centric
approaches; psychological, behavioural,
and mental verticals; social perspectives;
education, adoption, and acceptance;
aged care and the aging population;
regional, geographical, and public-health
perspectives; technology implications;
and cloud applications.
Each section includes articles and case
studies which explore the principle aspects
of the different sub-topics and reviews
the role that digital solutions are playing
in that particular medical or health discipline. Of particular note, from a development perspective, are the chapters: ‘Going
Beyond - Challenges for Using mHealth
Applications for Preventative Medicine’ (p37) which considers the current
challenges for future mHealth applications dealing with preventative medicine
and proposes a modular framework for
overcoming these challenges; and, ‘Stepby-Step Guide to Designing Effective
Wellness Apps’ (p83), which provides an
essential read for app creators looking
to design effective wellness apps. This
focus of practical advice and industry
insight extends throughout the book. The
chapters ‘Enhancing Decision Support
in Healthcare Systems through mHealth’
(p511) and ‘Economic Approaches to
Assessing Benefits of mHealth Technol-

As the book discusses in the introductory
chapter there are a number of verticals
associated with mHealth and the goal
of the book has been to try and coalesce
these elements into a single volume. From
this, it then becomes possible to identify
the connections, interdependencies and
synergies between stakeholders within the
market, as well as determining the variety
of possibilities for building health services
around connected health technologies.
Th e breadth of themes and case studies in the volume is exhilarating, but this
variation is also a reflection of the challenges facing the wide spread adoption
of mHealth technologies. The contrast
between author contributions in terms
of style and experience provides the
reader a comprehensive understanding of
mHealth and its relevant opportunities.
What becomes clear to the reader is the
growing mHealth evidence-base, revealing
the positive effect connected technologies can deliver across different elements
of healthcare. The evidence is clearly presented in a way that provides a compelling
case for wider mHealth adoption. Just as
mHealth in itself is providing the vital
connections across healthcare, the editor
has succeeded in drawing together this disparate evidence-base in order to present a
comprehensive overview of the potential
for these technology-led services. n