Mental health in the palm of your hand

A while ago we wrote about Health 2.0 - an emerging concept of health care that uses web 2.0 technologies to promote collaboration between patients, physicians, health care professionals, and other members of the health community. It was only a matter of time before these technologies made the leap from the computer screen to the palm of your hand. The iPhone has been particularly successful at developing health 2.0 applications for users on the go. 

Here are a couple of cool examples of applications changing the way we receive health information: The Human Atlas The Human Atlas iPhone application provides point-of-care access to 3D animations of common medical treatments and conditions, (approximately one-two minutes in length) with accompanying narration.

Epocrates Rx The free EpocratesRx software for iPhone OS puts continually updated peer-reviewed drug information at your fingertips.

Eponym Touch This application brings the eponym database to your iPhone or iPod touch. The database currently contains more than 1,600 medical eponyms and is updated from time to time. Mental health is hopefully the next frontier! The people over at Healthcare Administration Degree notified us about their 100 Best iPhone Apps for Your Mental Health.

Here some others I found related to mental illness: Sad Scale Sad Scale is an iPhone application which has three screening tests for general depression, postpartum depression and geriatric depression. Once completed the user can then email their primary doctor with the results. iConverse iConverse is an educational tool designed for young children and individuals with communicative disabilities, and also toddler-aged children who have yet to master language. Interestingly Scothoser’s Corner identified that this application may be helpful to children living with autism. But as always the best communications is face to face.

Don't rely on these tools in place of doctor-patient visits. ~ D. Venn