‘Ensuring dignified life’: how an app keeps advanced cancer patients out of hospital
Por Emily Hung — South China Morning Post – News feed
Advertisement Hong Kong healthcare and hospitals Hong Kong Health & Environment ‘Ensuring dignified life’: how an app keeps advanced cancer patients out of hospital
HKU’s SUPPORT+ mobile app, offering weekly symptom tracking and nurse follow-up, has attracted 76,000 registered users since 2022
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Emily Hung Published: 6:24pm, 7 Oct 2026
Advanced-stage cancer patients could spend half as long in hospital and avoid more than a third of unplanned admissions if a symptom-tracking mobile app is added to their routine care, according to new research from the University of Hong Kong.
The SUPPORT+ mobile app, developed by HKU’s clinical oncology department, provides symptom-management information and a direct line of communication with healthcare staff.
Launched in 2022 with private backing, the app has attracted 76,000 registered users, including 2,800 families with cancer patients.
“Advanced-stage cancer patients often experience severe, worsening symptoms such as pain, shortness of breath, fatigue and loss of appetite … if those problems were not handled early, it could increase the risk of hospitalisation and emergency department visits,” said Clinical Associate Professor of Practice Wendy Chan Wing-lok, who developed the app.
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