So I just got back from a very informative & interactive event where I learned about the application of mobile technologies in creating social change. It’s here at this meeting of the socially-conscious minds and the focus of impact creating technology, that I began thinking about the real ways in which cutting edge tools are being used in the public health world.
Let’s face it, we’re living in the year 2009 and whether you are a young kid or much older, technology has been integrated into our lives – both for work and play. Several industries and disciplines have been traditionally linked with technology (e.g. science, engineering) however in recent years with the advent of the Internet and social media, fields such as PR/marketing and education have latched onto emerging technologies and have been making quite a bit of use of them – making things better.
How are they making things better you ask? Well, they are doing a couple things:
- Communicating with their target audiences
- Informing professionals in their field
- Developing new tools for their industry
- Being open to the changing times and adapting
Among those in the list, I highlighted the last one for a reason – especially in the health space. Of course there is going to be a learning curve for these technologies, a diffusion of innovation. Brochures, fliers and booklets are still great but they are not the only end communication tool anymore (and their effectiveness is waning). In these recent years where emerging technologies have been more and more useful, we’ve seen our share of public health disasters and problems that have been begging for a solution. One event that has been forever inked on the minds of many Americans is the crisis of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. A tragedy of epic proportions that quickly turned into a public health nightmare on a number of levels. The question here is, of all the technology that we had then and have now, could things have turned out better? Well when Hurricane Gustav came onto the scene, the online world was ready to make use – Andy Carvin of PBS made sure that happened with his Hurricane Information Center.
It is an absolute must to make sure that public health professionals are privy to what’s going on here. I sincerely do not want this field to be at the tail end of the Digital Revolution with so much at stake and so much potential. From disaster response to online prevention campaigns using social media to gathering global support to end poverty – new technologies are here and there are limitless possibilities…and solutions. And don’t think that since you aren’t a maverick at using some sort of software that you can be counted out. The beauty of this new age of digital empowerment lies not in the technology or the tools, but in the people who are rallied around using them for great purposes.
THAT is why technology is no longer just an option for this field – there are people who want to see it used for impact and the people who it WILL impact are looking to us to see how we do it.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Unbelievable.
Andre -
Really great post – I couldn’t agree with you more. One of most powerful tools for health education and empowerment will be mobile devices. As BJ Fogg notes, we don’t adopt mobile devices; we marry them. We typically spend more time with our mobile phones than with our spouse or partners.
- Carol
Andre, thank you for the innovative post! I like much how you describe that this new age of digital empowerment lies not in the technology or the tools, but in the people who are rallied around using them for great purposes. Extending the conversation further towards health and technologies that are creating something new and the uniqueness that unfolds seeing it work as people use them is a step in the right direction. Yes, technologies have failed but so, too, have they been visionary in part because of the ideas people hold together while engaging in such technologies. And in light of your highlighting that the empowerment lies with the people, I think it’s also important to underscore how much of the innovation also lies in people taking risks, together, about things that matter to them in an enduring way. The technologies that are bringing actual people – like physicians- together in new and important ways to post clinical cases and receive unique feedback has certainly been significant in regards to the empowerment of medical practitioners; the significance of designing technologies collaboratively by people who are actually using them, as well as the expansion of quality patient care matters for our current healthcare situation as you well describe… Thanks for the inspiration!
That article was great Amy! Love to see these technologies being applied to everyday situations in health. Diabetes is especially a special interest of mine so I was even happier to read. Thanks so much for stopping by and looking forward to what the future holds!
LaDonna, thanks so much for checking out the post and writing one of your own! The future impact of public health depends on these technologies and our willingness to go above and beyond to serve the people.
Thanks for the comment Susannah! Looking forward to the updates and thanks for the additional information. We are without a doubt living in an age where the directions are many…exciting!
Patricia thanks so much for stopping by! It definitely is apparent that cell phones are more useful in these places, most notably because we underestimate the computing power in our cell phones today! I am actually reading Rheingold’s Smart Mobs and learning a ton. Thanks for the resources!
Very well said, Andre. See my post today on a pretty nice new diabetes mobile app:
http://www.diabetesmine.com/2009/02/a-diabetes-mentor-in-your-cell-phone.html
Much more to come, I’m sure!
What a great post Andre. It opens our eyes to the rest of the world and how innovations are meeting local needs, many of which have implications regardless of geo-location. I do believe the future is mobile. I blogged a riff on this post for people in prevention and community change adding three actions: 1) inviting and convening people to participate in both face-to-face and online events; 2) connecting people in our networks to not only our organization but more importantly to each other 3) collaborating with those we serve to co-create what we collectively need to make a difference. Thank you for the information and inspiration to think further along these lines.
Andre, this is an important post not only for the issues & examples you highlighted but for all the directions this could be taken. I wrote a bit about mobile’s potential for safety-net populations on e-patients.net last fall, just to add to your citation list:
http://e-patients.net/archives/2008/09/safety-net-populations.html
The Pew Internet Project’s latest data has identified mobile as the third wave of the information/communication tech revolution (the first wave was basic internet access, the second was widespread home broadband). Stay tuned to pewinternet.org for updates on that emergent wave.
Great post, Andre! I confess the title made me question what you meant, but I love the ideas expressed and the links and resources included. Wonderfully useful! BTW, on this topic, you might find this of interest (from earlier today).
Engadget: OLPC Toting Rwandan Students Flock to Airport for Free WiFi: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/23/olpc-toting-rwandan-students-flock-to-airport-for-free-wifi/
I have also heard from several different sources that in underserved areas (both globally and nationally) that mobile devices such as cell phones are far more important as information sharing and production tools than are full computers. Locally, some of our faculty are arguing that this is generational as well as economic:
http://etechlib.wordpress.com/2009/02/19/mobile-education-opps-and-apps-from-ums-soloway/
Shades of Rheingold’s Smart Mobs – it ain’t over. We’re still building the base. Thanks for a wonderfully substantive and timely post!
{ 5 trackbacks }