mHealth Technologies for Chronic Diseases and Elders: A Systematic Review

mHealth (healthcare using mobile wireless technologies) has the potential to improve healthcare and the quality of life for elderly and chronic patients. Many studies from all over the world have addressed this issue in view of the aging population in many countries. However, there has been a lack of any consolidated evidence-based study to classify mHealth from the dual perspectives of healthcare and technology. This paper reports the results of an evidence-based study of mHealth solutions for chronic care amongst the elderly population and proposes a taxonomy of a broad range of mHealth solutions from the perspective of technological complexity. A systematic literature review was conducted over 10 online databases and the findings were classified into four categories of predominant mHealth solutions, that is, self-healthcare, assisted healthcare, supervised healthcare and continuous monitoring. The findings of the study have major implications for information management and policy development in the context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) related to healthcare in the world.