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Digital technologies and health disparities and equity
Health disparities refer to the differences in outcomes or disease burden between disparate groups. “A ‘health disparity’ refers to a higher burden of illness, injury, disability, or mortality experienced by one group relative to another.
A ‘health care disparity’ typically refers to differences between groups in health insurance coverage, access to and use of care, and quality of care.
Health equity means that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. This requires removing obstacles to health such as poverty, discrimination, and their consequences, including powerlessness and lack of access to good jobs with fair pay, quality education and housing, safe environments, and health care. Health equity refers to non-clinical factor such as social determinants of health. Some examples of health inequity may include, but are not limited to:
- Limited financial, educational, or health resources
- Limited career opportunities
- Income disparities
- Neighborhood safety
- Access to nutritious food
Digital health technologies empower consumers to quantify health behaviors that could advance health for all populations. However, digital health technologies are serving to widen inequities because only well-to-do early adopters can afford their higher prices, while marginalized populations remain excluded. Existing users tend to be highly educated and possess the necessary technological skills to operate the devices. They also have the linguistic and numeric capabilities to process information in order to change behaviors.
Interesting Read: Digital technology, population health, and health equity
Question to consider: How innovative health technologies reduce social inequalities in health among diverse populations across varied geographic settings?
Posted : December 14, 2020 8:45 am
The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the health disparity populations, especially those with underlying comorbidities like CVDs/diabetes/hypertension. These conditions were further exacerbated due to the ongoing pandemic (delayed care, decreased physical activity, social isolation, increased stress). However, implementing digital health interventions (remote monitoring and care) may help in mitigating the effect of these disparities. This rapid review assesses the impact of digital health interventions in health disparity populations. It was seen that Digital health interventions significantly improved health (CVD related health) and health care delivery outcomes (hypertension control) in racial groups and low SES populations in both rural and urban areas.
//www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666693620300566#sec4
Posted : December 18, 2020 1:04 pm
kamalpreet reacted
Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are adapting digital health innovations in their health systems. In diverse social settings it has both positive, negative and mixed impacts on equitable health system and gender relations. Therefore, while designing, implementing and evaluating digital health policies and programs it is essential to include strong health equity and gender analysis. Digital health initiatives should address local systems processes and realties.
The article “Digital health, gender and health equity: invisible imperatives” highlights the contribution of digital health in achieving health equity as well strengthening the gender equality in digital health
Posted : December 18, 2020 1:10 pm
Quite rightly mentioned in recent times the internet have became a crucial source for dissemination of information all over the world. Digital technologies are being harnessed to support the public-health response to COVID-19 worldwide, including population surveillance, case identification, contact tracing and evaluation of interventions on the basis of mobility data and communication with the public. These rapid responses leverage billions of mobile phones, large online datasets, connected devices, relatively low-cost computing resources and advances in machine learning and natural language processing.
Below is attached the link of a Review article that aims to capture the breadth of digital innovations for the public-health response to COVID-19 worldwide and their limitations, and barriers to their implementation, including legal, ethical and privacy barriers, as well as organizational and workforce barriers.
Read more: //www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-1011-4
Posted : December 18, 2020 9:35 pm
kamalpreet reacted
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