In light of my conversation last month about the "no-smartphone patient," I found this recent Forbes piece on the need to develop culturally sensitive digital-health technologies of interest. Contributor Rob Szczerba writes:
In recent years, technologies involving smart phones and data analytics have become an essential component of how healthcare is delivered throughout the world. Moreover, some believe these tools hold special promise for people from poor communities, seniors, and ethnic and racial minorities. In some cases, people from these groups are more likely to have chronic conditions that can be expensive to treat in the short- and long-term. Unfortunately, many of the innovators developing health technologies are not well-equipped to understand the special needs of these groups.
Rohit Bhargava and Fard Johnmar, co-authors of ePatient 2015, describe this problem as “multicultural misalignment.” They warn that digital health technologies, such as mobile and wearable devices, will be much less effective if they are not optimized to account for differences in age, gender, culture, ethnicity, knowledge, and literacy. They believe that preventing multicultural misalignment is vital, suggesting that we must work hard to ensure “health innovations benefit all segments of society.”
As a reminder, Stanford's Medicine X conference - where this topic will be discussed - begins tomorrow.
Previously: Countdown to Medicine X: How to engage with the “no smartphone” patient
