About
Dr. Joel Williams is an associate professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Public Health Sciences. His academic training is in the areas of exercise science, public health and applied evaluation. He also has clinical experience working in sports medicine and hospital settings. Dr. Williams’ area of expertise is implementation and evaluation of health promotion and disease prevention programs and interventions. Joel has worked on projects supported by a variety of funders, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development, National Cancer Institute, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine,U.S. Department of Agriculture/National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Defense, and various state agencies and private foundations. Most of his work has involved health behavior measurement and interventions. Dr.Williams has developed study protocols and supervised teams collecting data for both community and clinical trials, and has served as a methodologist or evaluator. His continued research interests are in obesity prevention and control in community and clinical settings. Dr. Williams is currently engaged in research involving the use of mobile technology for tracking disease symptoms, health behaviors, and for promoting patient chronic disease self-management.
Visit Dr. Williams' Faculty Profile.
How is their research is transforming health care
Mobile health has been proven to be effective in enhancing patient involvement in the management of medical conditions. There are numerous medical software applications (apps) designed to provide support to healthcare professionals in task such as education, appointment reminder, test result notification for patients, health record maintenance, communication and patient management. Programs and interventions using mobile electronic devices (MEDs, i.e., smartphones and tablets), for a range of functions from clinical decision support systems and data collection tools for healthcare professionals,have the potential to enable health behavior change and enhance chronic disease management by patients in the community. Dr. Williams is working with colleagues in the School of Computing at Clemson University and GHS Gastroenterology to develop an app that tracks symptoms and treatment adherence among pediatric eosinophilic esophagitis patients. The app will collect demographics, diagnosis/treatment data, and track food intake. Additionally, it will capture symptoms (weekly) and quality of life (monthly) using validated scales. In another study, he is leading usability evaluation of a mobile device interface designed to enhance self-management among Type 2 diabetics in the military health system by facilitating monitoring of their blood sugar, blood pressure, weight, and activity levels. This study is funded by the Department of Defense and involves colleagues at Clemson University, the US Army Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center at Fort Gordon, GA, Mike O'Callaghan Federal Medical Center at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, NV, and Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, WA.
Health Research Expertise Keywords
Faculty Scholar, Chronic disease, Pediatrics, Mobile technology, Self-management, Health behavior
