Health Equity and Digital Divide in the Post-COVID-19 Era-View Presentation

Video Transcription

Video Summary

The presentation focused on health equity and digital inclusion in digital psychiatry, spearheaded by Darlene King and featuring Julia Tartaglia and Marque Blaytofi. It was divided into three parts, beginning with an exploration of health disparities in mental health and the rise of diverse US demographics. Julia illustrated that mental illness rates among people of color might be underdiagnosed due to biases and access challenges. Disparities in mental health service use were highlighted, with people of color less likely to access services, often due to systemic issues and socioeconomic factors. The talk emphasized the potential of digital health to bridge these gaps but warned of creating new inequalities through the "digital divide." This term underscores the gap between those with and without access to digital resources, influenced by factors like accessibility, digital literacy, and cultural differences.<br /><br />The session included a clinical case about Maricela, a Latinx female with limited digital access, to illustrate these issues in real-world contexts. Darlene highlighted the APA App Evaluation Framework and the role digital navigators can play in boosting health literacy among patients. The presentation stressed the importance of developing culturally tailored and inclusive digital health solutions, ensuring that broader stakeholder communities are involved.<br /><br />Lastly, Marque elaborated on the challenges of bias in AI within digital health, emphasizing six domains that need attention—from data collection and model training to fairness and algorithmic transparency. He discussed high-profile examples of biased AI applications in credit scoring and facial recognition to underline the potential real-world consequences of unchecked AI biases and called for refined regulations and ethical standards.

Keywords

health equity

digital inclusion

digital psychiatry

health disparities

mental health

digital divide

cultural differences

bias in AI

digital health solutions

APA App Evaluation Framework