McKesson Foundation Awards $1.3M for Mobile Diabetes Management Research

The McKesson Foundation (San Francisco, Calif.) announced the six recipients of $1.3 million in research grants as part of its Mobilizing for Health initiative to improve the health of underserved populations with chronic diseases through the use of mobile-phone technology. The Mobilizing for Health grants, of up to $250,000 each, will support studies on diabetes care and management at six esteemed U.S. institutions. The Mobilizing for Health grant program dedicates $1.5 million annually to research grants and field-building activities, such as mobile health conference support and other mHealth field building activities.

The studies will examine a range of mobile-health technology options from sending simple SMS text messages to patients to remind them to take their medications to a comprehensive mobile phone-based software program that is integrated with patients’ electronic medical records. Each study will be completed within one year, several will test bilingual (Spanish and English) messaging strategies, and all are designed around patient populations served by community health clinics.