A digital health app used by adults with learning disabilities has delivered a dramatic 30% reduction on the burden placed on health services.
The My Health Guide app, developed by London-based health focused tech firm Maldaba Ltd, is currently being trialed by Humber NHS Foundation Trust with 200 users taking part in a year long pilot scheme.
Initial data analysis of 60 trial app users has shown that like for like contacts with healthcare professionals reduced from 12,469 to 8,636 representing a 30% drop.
Trish Bailey, a senior nurse with Humber NHS Foundation Trust, has been closely involved with the trial. She commented: “This proves how empowering and effective smart technology can be in enabling adults with learning disabilities to increase their independence and put them in control as well as lowering the number of times they have to visit a healthcare professional.
“These statistics are very encouraging and only serve to justify our growing interest in smart technological approaches,” added Trish.
Maldaba co-founder and MD Lorenzo Gordon commented: “We have analysed data on how many contacts 60 of the 200 service users had in 6 months prior to them using My Health Guide. In that 6 months prior to using the app those 60 people had 12,469 contacts with health professionals.
“We then looked at each person’s use of health professionals in the days after they have began using My Health Guide. It’s very early days in the trial but extrapolating the first 3 months data to 6 months indicate that the same 60 people had only 8,636 contacts with health professionals. That’s a 30% reduction in the number of contacts.
“We are continuing to analyse the data as the trial progresses, but these early indicators do suggest that use of My Health Guide helps people do more things for themselves as opposed to needing contacts with a range of health professionals,” added Lorenzo
Founded in 2002, Maldaba is a software company based in London that specialises in web-based and mobile applications for the public and non-profit sectors.
A short movie about the app, downloadable from iTunes and Google Play Store, can be viewed here. For more information visit www.myhealthguideapp.com, www.maldaba.co.uk and www.humber.nhs.uk
