Geofencing: Mobile Technology as a Health Promotion Tool to Raise Awareness of a Dental Clinic in Rural North Carolina

PURPOSE

The purpose of the study was to assess the use of geofence technology to raise awareness of a dental clinic in rural North Carolina.

METHODS

The catchment area of the dental clinic was defined by ZIP Codes. A geofence was identified, and cell phones within the perimeter were targeted for oral health message drops to occur over 3 months from April to June 2017. Surveys conducted twice, pre- and postintervention (message drop), evaluated change in community awareness of services available at the dental clinic. A cross-sectional analysis was used to measure the effect of the exposure to the geofence technology in survey respondents.

FINDINGS

The survey included 200 participants (100 pre- and 100 postintervention). There were no significant differences in race or age for pre- and postintervention survey groups. The majority of respondents were American Indians (47.0% pre, 58.6% post) or black (28.8% pre, 25.5% post). There was a statistically significant improvement in awareness of the dental clinic (P = .045) from pre- to postintervention. A significant increase was also observed in the question related to dental visits by the respondent or family member of the respondent (from 6.5% to 15.0%, P = .04). A more modest improvement was found in questions related to the cost of dental care, type of insurance accepted, and services provided.

CONCLUSION

Geofencing has the potential to increase awareness of health care services and ultimately increase the number of patients receiving care.

A novel method for selection of invasive tumor cells: derivation and characterization of highly metastatic K1735 melanoma cell lines based on in vitro and in vivo invasive capacity

Tumor cell invasion of basement membranes is required at several steps in the process of metastasis. To study the genetic and biochemical events mediating invasion, a variant cell line (TK) was selected from the metastatic M2 K1735 murine melanoma cell line. A novel selection procedure was used, based on in vitro and in vivo invasion and growth upon basement membrane and stroma. Additionally, two extrapulmonary metastases of the TK cell line, TK-Eve and TK-Liver, were established as cell lines and characterized. The TK cell line demonstrates greater metastatic potential in vivo and invasive ability in vitro than the parent M2 cell line, confirming the validity of the selection procedure. In addition, the M2 and TK cell lines were examined for other cell functions involved in the metastatic process. Cellular growth rates and sensitivity to T lymphocyte and natural killer cell lysis were not determining factors in the metastatic potentials of the M2 and selected cell lines; possible macrophage contribution to metastatic behavior was noted. [35S]methionine pulse labeling of protein synthesis and karyotypic analysis confirm the close relationship of parental and selected cell lines.