Telehealthcare: successful test with people of limited literacy in Honduras and Mexico

Steve Hards

New University of Michigan research evaluated the impact of automated calls (‘telehealthcare’) from a US-based server to the mobile phones of patients with hypertension in Honduras and Mexico. Hypertension is an ‘epidemic’ in countries with limited access to health care. The automated call program providing long distance checkups and self-management education over weekly 12-minute calls for six weeks to patients provided with home blood pressure monitors. They reported information about their blood pressure, medication use and symptoms during the calls, when they also received tailored health information. Compared with patients receiving ‘usual care’, people on the program were more likely to say that they understood how to take their medication, experienced fewer depressive symptoms and were more satisfied with their care. U of M’s ‘Telehealthcare’ model tested on people of limited literacy in Honduras, Mexico Ann Arbor Journal.