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HEALTHAPPSA TOOLKIT TO HELP YOU

PRESS RELEASE
Embargoed: 6am GMT, Wednesday, 1st October 2014
Contact: Dee OSullivan
Email: dee@patient-view.com
Telephone: +32-(0)2-538-7581
Mobile: +32-(0)495-893-925
http://www.myhealthapps.net
Launch of the first-ever toolkit to help people
understand and use health apps
PatientView Ltd 2014
Author: Tony Newbold
Editors: Clive Nead, Dee OSullivan, Alexandra Wyke
Designer: Mark Ansell
From the publisher of myhealthapps.net and the European Directory of Health Apps
A clear, concise, simple manual to help patients and the public make the best
choices and decisions about health apps, Health Appsa Toolkit to Help
You, is available in print and online. Launched today, Wednesday, 1st October
2014, at the European Health Forum Gastein 2014, and circulated to the
Forums 650 delegates (who come from all over Europe and beyond, and who
represent the key stakeholders of the European health policy community).
Why this Toolkit?
Health apps have been heralded as an important technical advance with the potential to
support patient self-care, and to help patients manage their medical conditions. In addition,
health apps promote the maintenance (and improvement) of health through the monitoring
of personal wellbeing, and by encouraging the implementation of positive, healthy, lifestyle
changes.
So why is the take-up of health apps by patients and carers still lagging?
In a soon-to-be-published study
1
, PatientView reveals that the public are confused by the
sheer number of health apps available (100,000), and are not sure that a particular health
1
What do patients and carers want from health apps? A July-October 2014 global survey of over 1,000
patients, conducted by PatientView in collaboration with Health 2.0, with the input of relevant healthcare
stakeholders (policy-makers, suppliers of apps and mobile services, and healthcare professionals). Survey
results to be released Monday, 10th November 2014, at the 2014 Health 2.0 conference in London.
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HEALTHAPPSA TOOLKIT TO HELP YOU
app will help them. Members of the public may also not trust health apps, because they do
not know who makes the apps, or whether their health data would be secure on an app.
About Health Appsa Toolkit to Help You
Health Appsa Toolkit to Help You takes a comprehensive approach to helping people
find and use tried-and-tested health apps. It walks the reader through each step of a
journey towards getting started with health apps. The Toolkit identifies the main pitfalls
with health apps, and educates on how to overcome these problems. Every one of the five
main sections of the Toolkit is in its own dedicated colour (the colour coding further eases
navigation through this simple manual). Future editions of the Toolkit are plannedto take
account of regulatory changes and other developments in the fast-moving health-app
scene.
WHY Page 10
Why use health apps; how they can
help
Why making an informed choice is
important, and what to look for
WHERE Page 18
Where to find health apps
How to search for them
Where to download health apps
WHAT Page 28
What do you need to know about a
health app?
What do you need a health app to
do?
What should you watch out for?
HOW Page 44
How to download a health app
How to update a health app
How to build the app into day-to-day
health routines
RESOURCES Page 58
Useful links
Troubleshooting
What to do when things go wrong
Download the online flip book:
URL LINK: http://www.blastphotography.co.uk/patientview.html
Acknowledgements
The Toolkit was developed by PatientView (publisher of myhealthapps.net), in consultation with patient
groups, healthcare professionals, app developers, regulators, and with the pharma, medtech, and mobile-
technology industries. We at PatientView are grateful for their feedback. We would also like to thank all the
partners of myhealthapps.net (the European Connected Health Alliance; the European Health Forum Gastein;
GSK; Health 2.0; Janssen; NHS England; Novo Nordisk; and Telefonica) for their support in the development
and dissemination of myhealthapps.net and the Toolkit. In addition, we are grateful to the following
The myhealthapps Toolkit is a
good initiative to empower
citizens. It is the type of health-
literacy project that the
European Commission
encourages.
Robert Madelin, Director
General, DG CONNECT,
European Commission
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HEALTHAPPSA TOOLKIT TO HELP YOU
individuals and organisations for their insightful comments and contributions: the European Pharmaceutical
Students Association (EPSA); David Grainger of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency
(MHRA); Andy Jones of AstraZeneca; Tony Kane of Tony Kane Consulting; Charles Lowe of the Royal Society of
Medicine (RSM), and also of the Digital Health and Care Alliance (DHACA); Jocelyn Parkes of the Royal
Pharmaceutical Society (RPS); and Dr Mike Short, CBE, of Telefonica. We would also like to thank the European
Commission for its encouragement for myhealthapps.net. Finally, we would like to thank all the app
developers whose apps are featured on the myhealthapps.net website, and whose icons are being used for
illustrative purposes in the Toolkit.
Other upcoming PatientView initiatives
Workshop: Health AppsMeeting Patients Unmet Needs, Wednesday, 12th November 2014, London
A collaborative workshop to connect patient and carer groups, health policymakers, healthcare professionals,
telecoms and mobile experts, and pharma and medical-device experts with health-app developers.
Co-hosted by PatientView, Health 2.0, and TICBioMed, the workshop aims to define and design 5 new,
important health apps. 4 of the new health apps will be in response to the needs of patients living with one
of 4 health or medical issues: cancer; diabetes; disability; mental health. The 5th health app will be on the
subject of wellness and self-care. The health needs discussed in the workshop will include those identified by
the July-October 2014 PatientView/Health 2.0 global survey of well over 1,000 patients with long-term
conditions (and their carers). A White Paper on the results of the 12th November workshop will be published
shortly after the event. For further information on the 12th November workshop: http://bit.ly/MHAEVENT To
go on the mailing list to receive a free copy of the forthcoming White Paper upon publication, email your
contact details to: report@patient-view.com
About PatientView and myhealthapps.net
PatientView was founded in 2000 out of a belief that the views of patients should be considered in every
important healthcare decision (whether a new healthcare product, or a government change to a healthcare
system). A UK-based research, publishing and consultancy group, PatientView has the capacity to reach out to
120,000 patient groups worldwide, covering over 1,000 medical specialties. PatientView launched the
myhealthapps.net website in November 2013 to provide an independent portal for health apps reviewed and
recommended by patient groups and by empowered patients and consumers. PatientView gratefully
acknowledges, and would like to thank, the many patient groups from around the world that have contributed
reviews of health and wellbeing apps to myhealthapps.net. A full list of current reviewers can be found on
http://www.myhealthapps.net/reviewers
PatientView Ltd, One Fleet Place, London EC4M 7WS, UK
End of press release