Penn Nursing

App Makers

Applications developed at Penn Nursing allow nurses and patients instant access to resources.

With smartphone use becoming almost universal among patients, nurses and nurse researchers have new ways of connecting with patients and even helping them change their behaviors for the better. The web-based interventions developed by Penn Nursing faculty and colleagues help them innovate health care in several ways: some allow nurses instant access to data from wearable devices; they can offer patients personalized advice, as well as recommendations for health agencies and other resources; they provide feedback to patients on their own behavior; they can motivate patients through reminders, stories, and other prompts; and they can send a stream of data to researchers, accelerating research. Here’s a sampling of these applications.  

 

Jose Bauermeister
Get Connected

Gay, bisexual, men who have sex with men, and transgender populations account for most new HIV/STI infections in the United States. Yet, Dr. Bauermeister, PhD, MPH, Presidential Associate Professor of Nursing and director, HIV Disparities Scientific Working Group, Center for AIDS Research, says “we don’t think how the quality of places we send people to serves them.” His smartphone app provides motivational counseling to men aged 15 to 24 who have sex with men to get tested; and it sends them to local services that are best for each individual. “Someone hesitant to recognize his sexuality might be tested in an agency with HIV components,” Dr. Bauermeister says. “Or, if he can’t afford to pay the full fee, the app sends him to an agency that offers a sliding scale.” 

 

Sara Jacoby
Way to Health

Sara Jacoby, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of Nursing, is testing the feasibility of using technology for remote monitoring of longterm symptoms and recovery after traumatic injuries. The recipient of a $50,000 Hillman Emergent Innovation Program Grant, she is conducting this work with a web-based platform called Way to Health, developed at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine for behavioral economic research and clinical applications. This will permit integration of internetbased surveys delivered through cellphones or personal computers, and wearable monitors like fitness trackers to help nurses to assess physical activity, sleep, and other indictors of recovery. 

 

Anne Teitelman Anne Teitelman
Now I Know

How to motivate women aged 18 to 26 to receive the HPV vaccines? “That group is lagging behind” in receiving them, says Dr. Teitelman, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN, the Patricia Bleznak Silverstein and Howard A. Silverstein Endowed Term Chair in Global Women’s Health and associate professor of Nursing. A client who downloads the app receives two stories a week for six months about cervical cancer prevention. The app also comprises links to information and resources, as well as a discussion board and expert advice. More personally, the user can opt in to get reminders for when they’re due for the next vaccine. 

 

Catherine McDonald
Let’s Choose Ourselves

Adolescent drivers distracted by cellphones and peers contribute to more than a fifth of teen motor vehicle accidents. Dr. McDonald, PhD, RN, FAAN, assistant professor of Nursing, is developing a web-based intervention with colleagues at CHOP and Penn Nursing in an attempt to reduce crash risk. After listening to teens tell them about their experiences with driver inattention and asking their advice on ways to reduce it, the researchers concluded: Teens know they shouldn’t use phones while driving, but do it anyway. They find passengers both helpful (handling the phone for them) and harmful (showing the driver a picture, for instance). Teens believe it’s possible to improve behavior. The team showed the resulting intervention, “Let’s Choose Ourselves,” to another group of adolescents and are continuing to modify the intervention.

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