AHRQ Health IT Update: Preconception Screening and Education

AHRQ Health IT Update: Preconception Screening and Education

AHRQ Health IT Update: Preconception Screening and Education

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) sent this bulletin at 01/31/2013 11:29 AM EST

Health IT Tool Delivers Preconception Screening and Education

Virtual preconception care systems may be effective in influencing positive behavior change, and health IT-enabled systems have a significant potential to assist in the delivery of preconception care, according to a recent study supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The study, “Reaching Women Through Health Information Technology: The Gabby Preconception Care System,” which appeared in the January edition of the American Journal of Health Promotion, evaluated the effectiveness of a health IT facilitated intervention to increase awareness of preconception health among minority women. The authors of this pilot study programmed an avatar named “Gabby” to act as a virtual patient advocate and to deliver interactive screenings to help women identify health risks, assess readiness for change, and learn about lifestyle factors that influence preconception health. Based on the interaction between each participant and the avatar, a health “To Do List” was generated. The study found that participants addressed 83 percent of the issues that they had identified through their lists. For more details, select: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23286652.