In Case of Adverse Events: eHEALTH POCKETS
Asolo (Italy), November 2006 - "The aim of a healthcare institution is promoting a health culture among the referring population by teaching behaviours that can contribute to reducing illness risks or can promote witness intervention in case of an adverse event." This quote stems from Dr. Luca De Marchi, who will make a presentation at ONLINE EDUCA on eHealth Pockets as a Best Practice Showcase.
Azienda ULSS Asolo developed "digital pockets" about health and sanitary education for the general population: pockets are small digital contents about the right things to do in case of adverse events such as a street accident, household accident, or chest pain or to live a healthy life on a day-to-day basis.
The goal is not to teach the theory of what is happening and let people decide what to do in particular situations. Pockets show what to do practically: every pocket is mostly a "how- to" rather than a course. Every situation and event is presented in two versions: the correct actions to take in case you are a witness of the situation or the victim.
Health education topics concern the entire population and all different age ranges: to reach the goal of a strong efficacy of the pockets and their messages, all the episodes are developed using 3D animations, audio, images, and written text. To avoid their diffusion, these e-contents are available for many devices and media such as mobile phones, iPod, the Internet, and digital television.
There is, of course, a specific way to access the contents for any device, and Azienda ULSS 8 has several channels for spreading and promoting the e-health pockets. They are available for personal computers in video format, and the diffusion modalities including CD ROMs, DVDs, and a web portal (for download and streaming). For mobile phones and smartphones, the media formats are text, audio, video, and static images, reachable through a web portal (download) and Bluetooth.
For pocket PCs, the media formats are text, video, and static images available on a web portal (for download and streaming) or reachable by wi-fi and Bluetooth. For iPods and similar devices, media formats produced are video, static images, text (only for devices with video), audio, and downloadables from a web portal or reachable through iTunes (only for iPod). Other media formats include video for television and contents that are spread through DVDs, videotapes, and television channels.
E-Health Pockets represents a powerful and flexible instrument to promote health culture, spread contents related to health, and establish a strong relationship between sanitary and social services and interested citizens not only in illness situations but also in everyday life.
