Digital Technology in Community Engagement: Impacts and Implications

Health professionals are increasingly using digital technology as a strategy to maximize community engagement and effectively implement health interventions, a phenomenon evidenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. While technology has improved health information dissemination, communication, and data manag...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of health care for the poor and underserved 2023-02, Vol.34 (1), p.425-430
Main Authors: Barrett, Sharon E, Ochapa, Monica Oyidu, Warren, Tevin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior change
Communication
Community
Community involvement
Community participation
COVID-19
COVID-19 - epidemiology
Data management
Digital Technology
Dissemination
Grass roots movement
Health Behavior
Health education
Health information
Health literacy
Health promotion
Humans
Information dissemination
Information technology
Initiatives
Internet access
Medical personnel
Medical technology
Pandemics
Smartphones
Social factors
Social networks
Telemedicine
Underserved populations
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Summary:Health professionals are increasingly using digital technology as a strategy to maximize community engagement and effectively implement health interventions, a phenomenon evidenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. While technology has improved health information dissemination, communication, and data management, it cannot replace the human-based interactions offered by traditional grassroots outreach that can influence long-term health behavior change, particularly for underserved communities. Digital community engagement can be part of the digital divide, often widening disparities by excluding those without access or limited access to technology. It may hinder the accurate collection of contextual and comprehensive data needed to analyze social determinants of health, thereby widening the equity gap. This commentary explores the challenges of using digital technology and justifies leveraging it to complement traditional community engagement rather than as a replacement.
ISSN:1049-2089
1548-6869
1548-6869
DOI:10.1353/hpu.2023.0027