Placing prevention in the pockets: the role of mHealth in preventive medical services

Prevention is an essential part of the continuum of care in medicine and health. The focus of preventive services can be on individuals as well as communities and populations. Traditionally, preventive interventions in medical care have been classified into three hierarchical levels: 1. Primary prevention: includes methods that help in avoiding disease occurrence, specifically in healthy people (e.g., health promotion) 2. Secondary prevention: includes methods for diagnosing or treating risk factors and/ or diseases at early stages with a special focus on at-risk people before they experi- ence morbidity (e.g., screening) 3. Tertiary prevention: includes methods that help in reducing the impact of existing diseases in patients, usually by preventing progression of disease or the develop- ment of complications and by rehabilitation (Pomeroy and Steiker 2012)