Melbourne Disability Institute’s Post

From hand washing signs to case number graphs, health information is often visual. How accessible is it to people with vision impairment? John Paul Cruz is researching the accessibility of Australian digital health platforms, supported by a Social Equity in Engineering and Information Technology PhD Scholarship, an initiative of Melbourne Social Equity Institute and the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.

Associate Professor Annie Collier, PhD, MS, will review key issues to consider when designing, adapting and/or evaluating the efficacy of digital health technologies for underrepresented and underserved populations. Co-design and collaboration through community engagement is essential, as well as culturally grounding the materials, using evidence-based elements, considering privacy and trust issues, and incorporating health literacy strategies. It is imperative that investigators are familiar with concepts from postcolonial and decolonial computing, think about how to incorporate traditional ecological knowledge and social values, and consider data sovereignty, transferability, digital equity, and historical trauma. To enroll for this presentation, please register here: https://lnkd.in/gYHZ_eCJ Or for more information, please visit this webpage: https://lnkd.in/gXTN-xST #mHealth #mHealthImpactLab #ColoradoSPH #Publichealth #digitalhealth

The world is increasingly recognizing the risks and benefits of digital technology for children. Our understanding of these impacts remains limited. To address this, researchers are called upon to conduct comprehensive studies on various aspects of children's digital experiences, including prevalence, neurological effects, and long-term health outcomes. This research will inform the development of policies that balance children's rights to both participate in and be protected from the digital world. Join the conversation! Learn more about the special issue being published and register at 2025romeconference.com.

 Have you ever wondered why transforming public health research feels like an uphill battle? Seye Abimbola explains it best with a parable: while public health has been thrown “lifelines” of change, like open access, it often clings to traditional, Eurocentric models, expecting a miraculous shift without action. Take the potential of digital publishing. Despite the vast reach of the internet, many public health journals still function as though we're stuck in the print era. Compare this to fields like physics, where platforms like arXiv.org make research immediately accessible. As Abimbola notes, “Physics...transformed its scientific communication in the wake of the internet,” leaving public health behind. Statistics tell us the open access movement initially increased visibility for underrepresented researchers, but today, prohibitive fees still block many from contributing to global knowledge. Over 75% of researchers in low-income countries face barriers from publication fees—a system still inaccessible to many. The Journal of Community Systems for Health exemplifies a fresh model, aiming to “return the control of publishing to researchers” while serving diverse, local communities. This initiative proves that change isn’t about waiting for rescue; it’s about saying “yes” to innovation, equity, and accessibility. So, can public health research embrace these changes? By harnessing digital tools and community-driven platforms, we’re empowered to break free from outdated norms and build a future that speaks to global and local health challenges alike. #PublicHealth #OpenAccess #GlobalHealth #HealthEquity #DigitalPublishing #HealthResearch #AcademicPublishing #CommunityHealth #EquitableResearch #ScienceCommunication #TransformingHealth #HealthInnovation #ResearchEquity Luchuo Engelbert Bain Seye Abimbola

open lecture in Digital Health: access through inclusion Friday 17th of January 2025 13.00 – 14.00 CET Torg 3, Third floor, Forskningsgången 6, 417 56 Göteborg Zoom link provided after request via PM abstract Global societal challenges cannot be addressed by a discipline or a sector in isolation. This is especially true for the design of the digital space of healthcare. Myriad applications promise behavior change and sustainable healthier habits with often questionable evidence and design process. Healthcare struggling with implementing digital services often leads to breakdowns (e.g. Millenium) and technology often increases the marginalization of patients. Academia and practice do not always cooperate to produce realistic theories and evidence-based products. When I fell in love with the human-computer interaction field I thought I could support developing technology that is easy to use, valuable, and bridges gaps in situations like the ones mentioned above. In this lecture, I will present how Human-Computer Interaction intersects with the health field through my academic journey toward digital health, the challenges the digital brings into health, and the particularities of the health field that make it different from other fields digital technology has infiltrated. I will conclude the lecture with three visions I aim to pursue in the next 5-7 years that will contribute to digital health research, education, and beyond. These visions include developing conceptual tools through my research to support the design of an inclusive and accessible digital society focused on health, developing interdisciplinary education to address digital health challenges, and contributing to a career-focused sustainable doctoral education.

Austria, 7 al 12 Octubre, 2024. Centering on Equity: Transforming the Health Science Knowledge System "Health science knowledge requires a fundamental new trajectory to achieve greater health, racial equity, and community wellbeing. These longstanding reductive and biased practices include the exclusive focus on biomedical problems and sidelining determinants of wellbeing and voices who bring experiential knowledge, especially among non-dominant groups. Artificial notions of biological difference and similarity among people have long led to poor health science, especially for women. Often, the knowledge produced is disconnected from its practical application and wider community engagement. The urgency for concerted action to center equity and communities in knowledge systems is mounting. Social movements around the world, such as Black Lives Matter, Indigenous self-determination, and the epidemic of mistrust in health information are proving that voices are rising for equity and wellbeing. Globally there is greater attention to community-led, participatory research, co-production, and equitable research approaches following calls for more fairness and justice in science research and halts to harmful past practices. Simultaneously, global efforts are steadily directed toward supporting a wider process of reconciliation and restorative justice in health." https://lnkd.in/e8_HjZBK

An interesting publication about citizen involvement in technology development for health, care or well-being by Catharina Margaretha van Leersum, Christina Jaschinski, PhD, Marloes Bults & Johan van der zwart A total of 83 articles were included in this scoping review, showing the growing interest in citizen science for health. 🔍 Key Highlights: ➡ The level of citizen involvement differed across research phases: most citizens were involved in the data collection, and less in the preparation or evaluation of the study. ➡ Different terminologies were used to describe the methodology, such as: co-design, patient and public engagement, participatory design etc. The term ''citizen science'' was only used in two included articles. ➡ A citizen science study asks for different research approaches and skills from researchers. According to this review, some important lessons are: invest in a structural and longitudinalpartnership with the collaborators, an open attitude, flexibility and context sensitivity from researchers. Traditional power dynamics need to change and researchers have to step away from their own expectations and preconceptions. Read the full paper here: https://lnkd.in/e-hPuSsS

The ‘Recovery and Renewal of Participation in Healthcare Change’ project invites design researchers, health researchers and community partners to join our Community of Practice (CoP) that focuses on building resilience and capacity in co-design in health. 👩💻🧑💻 . The online Community of Practice (CoP) is a collaborative platform to create a space for design researchers and practitioners from diverse geographies and equity-seeking groups to access resources and share practices and build connections.🔎 . We aim to support the community with guidance and tools to rapidly advance the field of co-design in health, specifically addressing issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion, with new guidance on techniques that can endure beyond the pandemic. . Use the following link to join CoP https://lnkd.in/gfHv_MSw . #DesignCommunity #CoDesign #healthdesign #healthresearch  #Innovation

(London's Centre for) Learning the Science that Saves Lives? London's Centre for Learning the Science that Saves Lives In the heart of London, a centre has been established that is dedicated to learning the science that saves lives. The Centre for Learning the Science that Saves Lives is a hub for research, education, and collaboration that brings together experts from various fields to tackle some of the most pressing health challenges facing humanity today. Unlocking the Power of Science The centre's focus is on harnessing the latest scientific breakthroughs and technologies to improve human health and wellbeing. By fostering a culture of collaborativ... > Readmore https://lnkd.in/eD8rsVcB

When global experts are convinced they have 'all the answers' but health indicators stagnate, something is broken. But there is hope: peer networks are generating new knowledge through practice, where it matters most. Here is why the future of global health lies in bridging expertise with experience – and why it is time to question inherited assumptions about what we count as knowledge in global health. #GlobalHealth #HealthSystems