About this Research Topic

Background

Mobile health (mHealth) refers to the use of mobile and wireless devices to improve health outcomes. The field of mHealth has burgeoned in the past two decades, with research ranging from electronic health records to digital healthcare delivery systems, telemedicine, and wearables. mHealth is highly interdisciplinary, involving collaboration across fields as diverse as medicine, computer science, informatics, the social sciences, and public health. Communication scholarship, in particular, has a significant role to play in extrapolating the myriad processes used to examine health outcomes. Just as communication can be examined from interpersonal, mass, technological, and organizational perspectives, mHealth, too, taps directly into these core domains of communication research and practice. Whether in the context of patient-provider interaction over text messages, the tracking and sharing of one’s wearable data, or the building of online social networks and communities, the presence and influence of communication in mHealth is undeniable. Against this background, the aim of this Research Topic is to foster a systematic examination of communication approaches to mHealth.

The diversity of mHealth, and the breadth of spaces it is used within, can make it difficult to theorize and research. As mHealth is adopted more widely in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial to highlight the contributions of communication-centered theories, variables, and processes to address pressing questions in the field. Extant research on mHealth is severely fragmented, and communication, while central to mHealth, is often seen as an afterthought. Moreover, concepts and theories that are central to communication processes are either overlooked or handled cursorily, thereby clouding our collective understanding of critical health outcomes such as adherence, decision-making, quality of care, and overall well-being.

As we transition to an increasingly connected world, it is crucial that communication remain integral to mHealth research. Within the new media landscape, scholars and practitioners alike need to ensure that communication theories and variables are reflected in mHealth research. To put a spotlight on communication approaches to mHealth, we invite authors to contribute with emerging theories, methodologies, and practices that can move forward our collective understanding of mHealth, while foregrounding communication principles and processes along the way.

Authors are invited to submit manuscripts that advance the contribution of communication variables and theories to mHealth. We encourage diverse methodological approaches and especially welcome manuscripts that focus on theoretical and methodological developments with implications for communication and beyond. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• communication theories and processes as applied to mHealth
• inclusive design for mHealth applications with a focus on cultural competence
• mHealth in different cultural contexts
• patient-physician communication via telehealth
• mHealth technology adoption at micro, macro, and meso levels
• the impact of digital disparities on health outcomes
• the role of mHealth in addressing health inequities
• methodological challenges in the design and measurement of mHealth outcomes
• the impact of mHealth on mental health and well-being
• technology affordances of mobile media and their effect on mHealth user experience
• privacy concerns and the management of personal health information.

Keywords: communication, mobile media, wearables, telemedicine, health inequities, digital disparities, mHealth

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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