EZmedZA: An mHealth app for elderly patient in supporting medication self-management

• Published in: AIP Conference Proceedings
• Main Author: Zainal A.; Aziz N.F.A.; Ahmad N.A.; Nawi H.S.A.; Hassan M.A.A.
• Format: Conference paper
• Language: English
• Published: American Institute of Physics Inc. 2023
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85167416435&doi=10.1063%2f5.0130907&partnerID=40&md5=89e71ca6997a54bcd2897c8c936d8869

Mobile health (mHealth) has the potential to revolutionize health care delivery in developing countries like Malaysia. Despite the fact that the elderly makes up the majority of medication users, mobile medication management apps are frequently targeted towards younger populations. The reality is that many of elderly users will require support in their later years. However, to date, there are limited studies available, have been conducted that explore which applications, as part of assistive technology, have the most desirable features to be used by the elderly users. Hence, the study was aimed to design and develop the prototype of medication reminder application for elderly people. The project adopted the Rapid Application Development (RAD) methodology in the process of design and development of the mobile application. It implemented a qualitative and interpretive approach that included interviews and observations with 15 elderly participants (aged 61 to 74 years old) and 3 healthcare professionals for information gathering and testing purposes. EZmedZA medication reminder application is a free app for Android phone users, that helps the elderly keep track of and remember their medications in a simple way. It will aid in the management of prescriptions, doses, and pill reminders. We believe that the proposed mobile apps are feasible and provides an innovative solution to encourage medication self-management amongst elderly users. This apps will help in contributing to society by driving healthcare industry growth and productivity. Mobile application developers should find the developed medication reminder application for the elderly is a useful and valuable example of application, and it should help them in developing other mobile apps for elderly in the future. © 2023 Author(s).