Dave Roop's response is interesting and one that seems very important One of the critical pieces that is coming to light with the growing use of the internet is the term, social networking both in brick and click space industry with its intranets has found much that might be helpful here- primarily how information moves. Information "wants to be free to move" but it isn't free to move no matter how connected people are. There are networks and overlapping and interconnected networks with gatekeepers and filters. Much of this has to do with the social aspects. Not everyone chooses to be linked to everyone and linked doesn't mean free flow- not necessarily malicious in intent.
The development community has an unstated assumption, especially in the idea of closing the digital divide that such issue do not exist, are minor or will eventually disappear with time and connectivity. I am not sure the difference between developed and developing countries or the subject matter of the network neutralizes the issues thoughts? tom tom abeles > Date: Sun, 10 Aug 2008 18:16:59 -0700 > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [DDN] The Digital Divide and Human Health > > Dear All, > Let me share some my first hand experience in the area of “digital divide” / > telemedicine/ Health management” etc. Let us take two different scenarios to > make it global. > > Scenario I - Underdeveloped countries > > > Genesis of all problems is “economic divide” and not the “technology or > digital divide”. I have seen how poverty dictates “do’s & don’ts’”. > Second important factor is “knowledge divide” as in some cases (of course > rare) I have seen even with affluent suffers due to lack of knowledge. > If we tailor use of any technology for eradication of poverty and knowledge > divide in any community, health index will automatically improve as > by-product. People with no mean for square meal have their health issues as > the last priority. > > Scenario II – Developed countries > > Knowledge divide exists even in the countries like United States and attempts > to narrow such divides help the society at large. But unfortunately in many > cases there are complications as – “information can not be converted into > knowledge” without proper background to understand that information. First > word is creating a new category of people who belong to this category and > needless to say that – this will have negative impact on the overall social > management fabric. > > The learning derived are- > 1. Manage digital divide for improving economic standing first followed > by knowledge management. Jumping to health management, by passing these two > crucial factors would not help in any society (first / or third world). > > > > > > R K Dave, SMIEEE > Strategist & Expert (ICT & Disaster Management) > www.AdvisorICT.com > > > --- On Sun, 8/10/08, David Keyes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > From: David Keyes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [DDN] The Digital Divide and Human Health > To: [email protected], [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Date: Sunday, August 10, 2008, 5:17 PM > > This is an interesting discussion, though it may be an easier one to have as a > set of narrower questions on a web discussion. > > I agree that the use of data, both qualitative and quantitative, would be > ultimately vital to determining impact and perhaps not enough as been done. > Just > as important is defining the scope of questions. I see a number of arenas for > this. "Human health" is also broad. I leave that to health experts, > but perhaps this encompasses individual physical and mental health, and then > public health. > > I also see some distinction between getting health info, getting info about > where to get health assistance, participatory health support activities, and > use > of digital media to support creating health marketing materials, and use of > telecenters and digital media as a health prevention (and fitness and public > safety) activity. > > Here are some of the areas of research I'd see on this topic from my > experience in community technology. > 1) Does learning about health information online improve health? > 2) Does participating in a health or disease-related support group improve > physical and/or mental health? > 3) Does retrieving health info likely lead to its use and to a subsequent > impact? How is this different or complementary to information provided by > another source (friend, care provider, brochure)? > 4) How many community technology/ telecentres are connecting residents with > health and fitness information? (e.g. I know of a group of seniors that use > the > computer lab to retrieve walking maps for their exercise.) > 5) If someone's knowledge of using a computer and the Internet increases, > does it increase their sense of self-sufficiency and control, and thereby > extend > their life and quality of life? (There's an interesting potential > correlation to some research done in England finding that if seniors have a > greater sense of their choices and control, it results in extending their > lives.) > 6) Does a social network, with an e-component (email, text, web), enhance a > consumer's access to health care provider and health information (that is > accurate)? > 7) Does the production of content (e.g. writing about nutrition, your health, > mapping neighborhood air quality) lead to increased health awareness and > health? > 8) What is the public safety impact of youth media programs? > > This is all consumer sided vs provider sided (health professionals getting > access to exchanging data and best practices) and doesn't include potential > impact from health monitoring (remote testing/transmission on diabetes, blood > pressure, etc). > > And of course all this takes money for research. I'd definitely like to see > more and how it gets indexed in the health and Internet/dig divide/ social > health journals. > > - David > > ******************************************* > David Keyes > Director of Community Technology Programs > City of Seattle Department of Information Technology > PO Box 94709 > Seattle, WA 98124-4709 USA > > (206) 386-9759 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Fax (206) 684-0911 > http://seattle.gov/tech/ > Street address: 700 Fifth Ave. Suite 2700 > >>> "Judith Green" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 08/10/08 > 7:04 AM >>> > Greetings, > > The question of health care and the digital divide issues that are being > raised about "knowing" and "data" are central to > discussions that are > happening in medical education and diagnosis communities. A recent book > > <http://www.amazon.com/Interprofessional-Family-Discourses-Knowledge-Processes/dp/1572734027/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218309980&sr=1-3> > Interprofessional and Family Discourses: Voices, Knowledge and > Practice > (Language and Social Processes) > <http://www.amazon.com/Interprofessional-Family-Discourses-Knowledge-Processes/dp/1572734027/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218309980&sr=1-3>by > Marleen Iannucci McClelland and Roberta G. Sands, Hampton Press. > > raises questions about how different disciplines within healthcare diagnose > patients and how voices are missing. This volume raises questions about > dialogues in a face2face and digital world that are central to understanding > areas of the digital divide that are often not visible. They also raise > questions about how parents are engaged in the dialogues and thus how > patients are able to access or enter information. This volume also proposes > a biosocial model that might be of interest to those involved in discussion > about health care and the digital divide. > > This volume also address questions about what counts as knowing, research > and health care and how these are constructed through different lenses used > by different actors. > > I see the questions that were raised, therefore, as interdependent with the > broader concern of this community. > > Judith > _______________________________________________ > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list > [email protected] > http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide > To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with > the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. > > _______________________________________________ > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list > [email protected] > http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide > To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with > the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. > _______________________________________________ > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list > [email protected] > http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide > To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE > in the body of the message. _________________________________________________________________ Get Windows Live and get whatever you need, wherever you are. 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