PDA

101 Public Health Uses for a PDA

compiled by
Laura Larsson
Health Services
University of Washington
larsson@u.washington.edu

This handout is intended to help public health practitioners think about different ways that their PDAs could be put to use.
  1. Keep on track and on time with your PDA’s calendar
  2. Make restaurant inspections using forms you’ve turned into a database
  3. Calculate body mass index for counseling pregnant mothers
  4. Turn a questionnaire into a database
  5. Find clients with maps made using MapQuest or MapBlast
  6. Organize books you’ve read on public health and those you’d like to read
  7. Take notes in a meeting
  8. Learn Spanish
  9. Create questionnaires using Pendragon Forms
  10. Record notes to yourself using your PDAs voice recorder
  11. Have your device accept voice commands (PPC)
  12. Listen to lectures using earphones and Windows Media Player (PPC)
  13. Read and send email
  14. Store important bioterrorism contact telephone numbers for future reference
  15. Use the spreadsheet for creating all or part of your county’s assessment document
  16. Write, review and edit a PowerPoint presentation
  17. Track and organize lab specimens or chemicals in a lab
  18. Perform epidemiological tests and analyze data
  19. (Soon) Use a PDA version of Epi-Info to track an outbreak
  20. Store public health information you’ve downloaded from the Web on your PDA using Pendragon Browser or iSiloX for reference
  21. Keep track of important projects using Shadow Plan, Bonsai, Progect, Project-to-Go
  22. Gather data for analysis
  23. Collect images of slides prepared at CDC into an image album for reference or study 
  24. Using AvantGo, track daily legislative or health news, technology and environmental changes
  25. Answer questions in meetings using your wireless PDA
  26. Download a tutorial for study
  27. Read a public health ebook
  28. Check your spelling
  29. Time an event such as a presentation
  30. Check the contraindications of a drug or its cost
  31. Take notes on telephone conversations
  32. Jot reminders to yourself about new PH projects/activities using DiddleBug
  33. Take pictures of environmental problems for documentation
  34. Create an outline for a presentation
  35. Outline and write a research paper for AJPH
  36. Evaluate infants using the NCHS Growth Grids
  37. Advise clients as to their food intake
  38. Help clients be more compliant using exercise and diet applications that help them track their weight, food intake, and exercise regime (using Balance Log or Diet Assistant.
  39. Watch videos of lectures from well-known public health speakers
  40. Track bus and train schedules for travel to work
  41. Balance your life between work and family using LifeBalance
  42. Create drawings or illustrations
  43. Keep a list of your favorite URLs with you for referral
  44. Add agendas to scheduled meetings with PH colleagues in the notes section
  45. Learn a new subject using flashcards
  46. Enter data and graph it 
  47. Get things done using your PDA and David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done
  48. Print important documents on the road using PrintBoy and an InfraRed capable printer
  49. Look up the spelling of a word in the dictionary
  50. Plan a workshop on a public health topic using an outliner
  51. Organize important notes and memos using MemoLeaf
  52. Develop your own PDA application using CodeWarrior, NSBasic or other applications developer
  53. Track important public health colleagues through your Address Book
  54. Keep notes on your colleagues, what they do and what their interaction with you has been
  55. Develop online documents using HTML for your public health Website
  56. Plan a conference using your PDA to remind you of the many important details
  57. Time a talk at a conference (especially if you’re a facilitator)
  58. Convert Word documents to LIT files for reading on your PDA (PPC)
  59. Evaluate your staff as you do your daily walk around
  60. Generate custom reports from the content in a database
  61. Write an individualized plan of service for each person on your caseload.
  62. Reduce the paper you must carry with you to meetings, to visits with clients
  63. Learn about new technology being developed
  64. Use your PDA and some kind of keyboard when you travel to conferences to save your back
  65. Do research on the Web (with a wireless PDA)
  66. Make sure you get your hotel and flight right using one of the many travel applications
  67. Write a draft of an important alert (for email distribution)
  68. Manage client or patient data (beware of security issues)
  69. Use GPS to determine where you are
  70. Schedule immunizations for yourself, your family and your clients
  71. Download conference schedules for making sure you get to the right room
  72. Read PDF files 
  73. Create and do a health education project evaluation 
  74. Mind/concept map an idea for a research project or grant proposal
  75. Track dangerous solid waste canisters by number
  76. Refer to caseload information before going into the field
  77. Develop lectures and online learning modules on your PDA
  78. Write prescriptions using your PDA
  79. Track infectious diseases using ePocrates ID application
  80. Beam a message to a colleague during a meeting about “next steps” in a project
  81. Keep an abbreviated medical record on your PDA (immunizations, drug allergies, drugs currently being taken) for yourself and your family members
  82. Get an English translation of an unknown Spanish verb; or get a Spanish translation of an unknown English word for use when you are meeting with non-native English speaking clients using an English-Spanish-English or Spanish-English-Spanish dictionary
  83. Develop a checklist for a public health activity
  84. Learn American Sign Language for conversation with a hearing-impaired client
  85. Use important guidelines to keep you on track with patient treatments
  86. Take polls
  87. Collect surveillance data on sentinel events
  88. Graph the relationship between an individual's weight gain and recent medication changes 
  89. Use a currency converter when you travel abroad on business
  90. Track mileage, gas and hotel costs using the Expenses application
  91. Persuade a legislator to vote for more money for public health using arguments you’ve written down and can refer to on your PDA during the discussion
  92. Use nutritional analysis software to help your clients with nutritional issues
  93. Conduct field surveys in conjunction with a measles immunization program in Africa (or in the USA)
  94. Use your PDA to track administrative details
  95. When your mind fails you, your PDA will remember with some accuracy
  96. Use your PDA to track time spent on projects for accounting purposes
  97. Calculate chi-square tests in 2x2 contingency tables, relative risk and run diagnostic tests
  98. Keep track of your to-dos with your Task List or an add-on application like Shadow Plan
  99. Calculate the 10-year risk of angina or MI with comparison to average and ideal using STAT Cardiac Arrest application
  100. Use your device as a companion tool and keep it with you all the time
  101. Play a game like Bejeweled to wind down after a busy day solving critical public health problems
  102. See also: http://k12handhelds.com/101list for additional uses in the education field