Voxiva has released an iOS and Android app version of Care4life, its type 2 diabetes management text message program. In the app, users can set medication and appointment reminders, access recipes and nutrition tips, self-report and track blood glucose readings, and track weight and exercise goals. Additionally, the app sends users the same messages they would receive through the texting program.
"Many apps for diabetes management are designed to help people track their blood glucose readings and not much else," Voxiva CEO Justin Sims said in a statement. "Care4life additionally focuses on self-care activities, which are an important part of getting those readings where they're supposed to be."
The app builds on the same behavior change strategies and content as the Care4life text message program, including content from the American Diabetes Association. But the app allows users to also store their tracking information in their own phones to review or share with their care team.
Care4life is the third public health text initiative developed by Voxiva, but the first to transition to a native mobile app. Their first, Text4Baby, expanded its offering to better take advantage of smartphones in May. The company added links to a mobile website in its text messages, connecting expectant mothers to educational content and informational videos. Voxiva's second initiative, Text2Quit, is a text messaging program for smoking cessation. Chief Medical Officer Pamela Johnson told MobiHealthNews in October that the company is working on a web or mobile app for Text2Quit as well.
A number of partners have used Care4life for diabetes management, including Harvard Pilgrim, which began working with Voxiva in June, Gateway Health, and Moda Health. In recent surveys, Voxiva found that 85 percent of Care4life users said it helped them remember to take medications and attend doctors' appointments. Forty-seven percent of users set an exercise goal and 62 percent reported achieving it, while 47 percent of users set a weight goal and 31 percent reported achieving it.
