final assignment

Mitigation Plan: Part 3

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Technology plays a significant role in various aspects of our lives. For instance, technology is beneficial in the healthcare sector. It helps to promote the quality of healthcare services provided to the consumers in various ways. For example, technology has improved patient-physician relationship since it acts as a channel of communication. This has helped to improve patient outcomes. Similarly, the use of digital technology in management of obesity has helped to reduce the cases of overweight patients in various places (Raaijmakers et al, 2015). Some of the digital techniques used in managing obesity include self-monitoring gadgets which allow patients to maintain their health problems alone and disseminate information recorded to their physicians for assessment and development of a treatment plan.

Besides the benefits of digital technology in healthcare settings, there are various limitations facing the application in preventing and managing various health issues such as obesity. They include lack of knowledge on the application of the digital technology in both the health providers and patients. Secondly, some of the digital technologies are expensive to acquire and maintain. These two challenges hinder the effectiveness of the application of digital technologies in managing obesity.

To overcome the obstacles, it is necessary to set appropriate strategies which can ensure the maximum application of the technology in healthcare is achieved. Therefore, to attain this, it is essential to ensure the patients and healthcare professionals are trained on how to apply the technologies in managing obesity (Kozak et al, 2017). Moreover, since technology is very dynamic, the devices and techniques used might keep on changing as time goes by. Hence, the healthcare authorizes such as the Human Resource department should ensure the training programs are carried out periodically to ensure patients and nurses are updated on the new changes in the technology they are using. For instance, in managing obesity, the patients are also issued with self-monitoring gadgets which record information concerning their health conditions and convey the information to their physicians who analyze it to come up with an informed decision concerning treatment procedures. Thus, through training both users can gain the enough knowledge on how run the machines to improve patient outcomes.

Secondly, the progressing demand for digital technology in the healthcare sector has contributed to the increased cost of the devices used in managing diseases such obesity. This reduces the accessibility of most efficient technologies (Turner et al, 2015). Additionally, use of inappropriate techniques hinders the quality of healthcare services given to patients. Similarly, the cases of obesity keep on increasing globally even in the young generation. Therefore, this raises the costs incurred by each single healthcare facility to acquire the appropriate digital technology such the new self-monitoring gadgets and exercise machines for managing obesity (Turner et al, 2015). This has become a challenge to many hospitals. To overcome this issue, the government has to increase its expenditure to expand its allocations on healthcare. These funds will facilitate in purchasing of digital technologies, cater for the installation fee and their maintenance. The healthcare organizations can also seek charity support from of various companies willing to support healthcare sector through the corporate responsibility program.

Moreover, to solve the negative impacts of obesity in a country as well as in the global perspective, it is necessary to create awareness to the public on the social and economic implications of obesity. Through these platforms, people should be enlightened on the various ways to prevent obesity to reduce the cost incurred in managing the health issue. Some of the prevention measures for the disease include the change of lifestyle and behaviors which lead to overweight. By that, it will easy to reduce more other diseases such hypertension which is closely associated with obesity.

References

Raaijmakers, L. C., Pouwels, S., Berghuis, K. A., & Nienhuijs, S. W. (2015). Technology-based interventions in the treatment of overweight and obesity: A systematic review. Appetite, 95, 138-151.

Turner, T., Spruijt‐Metz, D., Wen, C. F., & Hingle, M. D. (2015). Prevention and treatment of pediatric obesity using mobile and wireless technologies: a systematic review. Pediatric obesity, 10(6), 403-409.

Kozak, A. T., Buscemi, J., Hawkins, M. A., Wang, M. L., Breland, J. Y., Ross, K. M., & Kommu, A. (2017). Technology-based interventions for weight management: current randomized controlled trial evidence and future directions. Journal of behavioral medicine, 40(1), 99-111.