Significant health disparities exist between the general population and people with disabilities, particularly with respect to chronic health conditions. Mobile healthcare – the delivery of healthcare via mobile Communication devices – is witnessing tremendous growth and has been touted as an important new approach for management of chronic health conditions. At present, little is known about the current state of mobile healthcare for people with disabilities. Early evidence suggests they are not well represented in the growth of mobile healthcare, and particularly the proliferation of mobile health software applications (mHealth apps) for smartphones. Their omission in mHealth could lead to further health disparities.  

This Special Thematic Session (STS) invites contributions on all aspects of the accessibility and usability of mHealth mobile apps for people with disabilities including:

• description of the current state of mHealth apps for people with disabilities, elders, and people with chronic disabling conditions, including challenges and opportunities
• identification of areas of research and development needed to support the inclusion of people with disabilities in the mHealth revolution
  
• presentation of mHealth app solutions aimed at addressing needs of people with specific disabilities or conditions 

Contributions to the STS have to be submitted using the standard submission procedures of ICCHP.

Chairs

• 
  Michael Jones, PhD, FACRM, Virginia C. Crawford Research Institute, Shepherd Center
• 
  Frank DeRuyter, PhD, FASHA, MMCi, Duke University Medical Center