Providing Health Care Professionals and Patients with Tablet Computers at the Point of Care

摘要

Regardless of their comfort level with mobile devices, diabetes patients were eager to use the tablets. Videos in Spanish were effective particularly in teaching non-English speakers complicated tasks like carbohydrate counting, meal planning, administering emergency insulin injections, and monitoring blood glucose levels. Tablet technology was an effective way to engage the whole family. Diabetes patient education is a family affair. Family members were able to copy Web site links to their own tablet or smart phone to review videos and practice skills at home. Diabetes educators reported that tablets made teaching difficult concepts easier, helped patients strengthen their self-care skills, gave diabetes educators more flexibility, enhanced diabetes educators' productivity, and helped in meeting new health care reporting requirements. Diabetes educators plan to continue using the tablets as a teaching tool. They are incorporating tablets into their patient education practice at another UConn Health satellite diabetes clinic.