Temple University uses text messages to reach underserved communities with health information

Here's a great story on MobileHealthWatch about Temple University using text messages to reach underserved communities with health information:

Temple is using a $100,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation to push cardiovascular health information out to neighboring communities through text messaging.

Given that people living in underserved communities often have mobile phones, it's no surprise that the folks at Temple University would choose this method to reach this patient population. Here are a few additional snippets from the Temple news story:

Much of the area around Temple is classified as medically underserved, which is defined by the Department of Health and Human Services as having too few primary care providers, high infant mortality, high poverty and/or a high elderly population. Further, medically underserved populations may face economic, cultural or linguistic barriers to health care.

William Santamore, Professor of Medicine and Director of Telemedicine Research, said the goal of Telemedicine Light is to get around those barriers to disseminate health information effectively.