Innovations in Health Equity
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ItemThe Effect of Mobile Health and Social Inequalities on Human Development and Health Outcomes: Mhealth for Health Equity( 2019-01-08)The equitable provision of healthcare entails the distribution of resources and other processes to overcome health inequality. The concept of heath equity suggests that differences in social and economic backgrounds of people affect their ability to lead the lives they choose to live. Following a review of what is known about health equity, social determinants of health equity and the role of mobile health, this paper investigates the relationship between mHealth, social inequalities in life expectancy and in education on Human Development and Health and Wellbeing. The analysis discovers a significant relationship between mHealth, social inequalities in human development and health outcomes. These findings have important implications for the use of mHealth applications to achieve health equity. The contribution of this paper is in understanding the role of social inequalities in and mHealth in enabling people to bring about improvements in the lives they lead and in their health outcomes.
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ItemHealthcare Equity: Questions of Access and Security( 2019-01-08)The rapid growth of mobile technology to improve healthcare conditions, support patient engagement, and enhance patient education is expected to continue¬ its upward trend. Physicians feel that simplified access to health information is one of the greatest benefits of technology. This research connects the growth of patients’ healthcare data access via mobile applications and the growth of access to wireless communication. This article proposes the following questions to investigate potential healthcare equity barriers: “What is the available Wi-Fi coverage?” and “What types of security protocols are used in the wireless access points?” The results indicate that there is a difference in community access to available Wi-Fi coverage. This difference could influence healthcare equity barriers. In addition, communities had identical security protocol usage. This indicates an opportunity to improve knowledge of security protocols and maintenance of access points, as well as influences on health care equity barriers.
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ItemTowards a Participatory Methodology for Community Data Generation to Analyse Urban Health Inequalities: A Multi-Country Case Study( 2019-01-08)This paper presents results from the application of a methodological framework developed as part of an ongoing research project focused on understanding inequalities in the healthcare access of slum residents of cities in four countries: Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan and Nigeria. We employ a systematic approach to produce, curate and analyse volunteered geographic information (VGI) on urban communities, based on a combination of collaborative satellite-imagery digitization and participatory mapping, which relies upon geospatial open-source technologies and the collaborative mapping platform OpenStreetMap. Our approach builds upon and extends humanitarian mapping practices, in order to address the twofold challenge of achieving equitable community engagement whilst generating spatial data that adheres quality standards to produce rigorous and trusted evidence for policy and decision making. Findings show that our method generated promising results both in terms of community engagement and the production of high-quality data on communities to analyse urban inequalities.
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ItemThe Feasibility and Acceptability of a Smartphone-Based Music Intervention for Acute Pain( 2019-01-08)Pain is an unpleasant experience the neurobiology of which is influenced by psychosocial factors including negative affect. Music is a ubiquitous experience that can improve affect, potentially decreasing anxiety and catastrophizing, both of which are associated with greater pain severity. We hypothesized that a machine-learning generative music intervention in the form of a smartphone web app (Unwind) could be used to modulate the experience of pain. In this pilot study, we recruited 15 individuals with acute pain who were admitted to an observation unit in the emergency department, and were being treated with opioids. Participants used the music intervention (Unwind) during this brief hospitalization, after which we assessed their response to its use through a semi- structured qualitative interview. Overall, participants responded positively to Unwind. While some reported some technical challenges, participants were willing to continue using it at home. In particular, participants reported using Unwind to address their anxiety, and many used it to facilitate sleep in the presence of pain. This study demonstrates that individuals with acute pain will accept and use a smartphone-based music protocol.
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