Mobile healthcare services in school-based health center

Objectives: In Taiwan, campus health problems are placing more and more pressure on school-based health centers (SBHCs). Moreover, SBHCs have insufficient resources to actively provide follow-up healthcare for students and faculty found to be overweight, chronically ill, or at high risk. In order to improve the quality of SBHC healthcare, a project was begun to enhance the efficiency of campus healthcare services by employing web-based and cell phone-based services. This project employed the Mobile Automated Medical Alert (MAMA) system, which was designed especially for campus health center use. Before implementing the MAMA system, a focus group of healthcare related staff identified areas in which SBHC healthcare services might be improved by the system and created a questionnaire to measure student and faculty response to the proposed services. Modifications to the MAMA design and service offerings were made based upon these questionnaire results. Method: After the initial brainstorming session, the MAMA team created a survey instrument that was administered to students and faculty in order to understand their attitudes toward the proposed mobile healthcare services. Two hundred questionnaires were distributed to students and faculty at a private technical college in central Taiwan. Results: Among the respondents, 100% had cellular phones and used short-text messages. Ninety-five percent of the student respondents and 85% of the faculty respondents agreed that mobile healthcare system would improve the quality of the health care their SBHC was currently providing. Based on these positive survey responses, the MAMA system was implemented. Discussion/conclusion: The current paper describes the process by which the MAMA team brainstormed proposed services and administered their survey. Survey results and the consequent changes to the MAMA system are discussed. Finally, recommendations are made for MAMA system use and a description is offered of the impact such systems might have on the future of college campus healthcare services. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.