H1N1 Public Health Message via YouTube & Rapping Doctor

This is a very short (1:00) video created by Dr. John Clarke about preventing the spread of H1N1 virus:


Dr. John Clarke's freestyle H1N1 rap video is one of 10 finalists in a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services competition for the best swine flu public service announcement. More here from NY Daily News.

And, we're back....

One of the great things about blogging is you can set one down, walk away, and sometimes years later, pick it up again and just keep going.... as if nothing happened.     That's pretty much what I'll be doing here.  (Between 2006 and now, I blogged about a lot of this stuff at yet another blog I called Thinking at the Interface.  That blog went away permanently when it got eaten by server gremlins at a now defunct host.)

After a curcuitous foray through the sacred groves of academia, I'm back at Hunter College as an Associate Professor (no longer in the liminal state that is a 'substitute' line) and delighted (really, beyond words delighted) to be back. 

This semester, I'm teaching three courses that all have something to do with new media and health.  One of those is a graduate course called, "Visual Media, Technology and Health," and we'll be using this blog a good deal in the course. 

So, welcome ~ and welcome back!

Community Participation & Internet Use

By way of my friend, David Brake (and, edited later to add: our mutual friend, Howard Rheingold), there's a new article in the journal City & Community, which looks at the question of whether Internet use isolates people from their local communities, or increases participation. Here's the full citation and the abstract:

Stern, M. J. and D. A. Dillman (2006) "Community Participation, Social Ties, and Use of the Internet", City & Community, 5 (4), pp. 409-424.

"Some argue that use of the Internet tends to pull people's interests away from their local area and weaken community ties (e.g., Kraut et al., 1998). Others argue that the Internet is frequently used to strengthen local ties, and is becoming a tool for helping communities organize to achieve local interests (Hampton and Wellman, 2003). Our results from a 2005 random sample mail survey of 1,315 households in a rural region of the Western United States suggest that increased Internet usage is positively related to nominal and active levels of community participation while at the same time supporting affective networks outside the local area. The location of these communities in a rural region of the West and their substantial distance from a larger population concentration provide the opportunity to draw implications for community development in the Information age and address theoretical concerns about the effects of information technologies on communities of place and local social capital."

For those interested in community development and social capital for improving public health, the implications seem clear that there is some reason to look to the Internet to facilitate such efforts.

Connecting Information & Urban Space

Yesterday's New York Times featured a review of Steven Johnson's new book, “The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic — and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World” (Riverhead).

Johnson's also the author of several other books, including one of my favorite about technology and society, "Interface Culture," which offers a compelling analysis of the ways computer interfaces and real-world concepts (think "desktop") shape our thinking.

In his latest endeavor, Johnson blends the book and blog formats by addressing both, here's an excerpt from the Times piece, including a quote from Johnson (linked above):

In “The Ghost Map” Mr. Johnson makes an explicit connection between the subject of the book and the Internet.

“The influence of the Broad Street maps extends beyond the realm of disease,” he writes. “The Web is teeming with new forms of amateur cartography, thanks to services like Google Earth and Yahoo! Maps. Where Snow inscribed the location of pumps and cholera fatalities over the street grid, today’s mapmakers record a different kind of data: good public schools, Chinese takeout places, playgrounds, gay-friendly bars, open houses. All the local knowledge that so often remains trapped in the minds of neighborhood residents can now be translated into map form and shared with the rest of the world.”

This has real significance for those working in public health today. What might it mean to map the threats to disease, injury, and illness and make those available online for everyone?

Johnson's related website, outside.in, allows anyone to add content to geographically-specific maps. So far, he and other contributors have been mapping the kinds of things he mentions above like schools and take-out places, but there's no reason that those interested in public health, could use the map to add health-related information. Johnson's insight is to take the important work of John Snow in public health and translate it beyond public health for the Internet-era. The next step might very well be to combine John Snow's and Steven Johnson's insights and see how it these might work together to benefit public health at a time when many people are more likely to access a computer than a water pump.

Urban Technology & Health

This morning NY1 reported about the work of the National Urban Technology Center, which is finding new ways to use technology to address sexual health issues among urban populations. Here's a short excerpt from the piece:

A computer-based program called "Prom Night," created by the National Urban Technology Center is being introduced in some city schools to help supplement the Department of Education's updated HIV/AIDS curriculum just revamped about a year ago.

Using a variety of animated games and scenarios, it's meant to use day-to-day situations students can relate to learn how to talk and think about the prevention of HIV and AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

“We have designed this in a way that's very hard-hitting, that deals with youth in their own culture,” says Pat Bransford of National Urban Technology Center. “We use hip hop, for example, in our animated films. We have animated characters, teenagers, like themselves, who are dealing with these issues – it gives them a chance to have more of a discussion.”

Very innovative combination of technology and urban health education!

MacArthur Foundation & Digital Media

I haven't been posting here too much lately because I've been busily involved with the MacArthur Foundation series on Digital Media & Learning (DML). The foundation recently announced a new, $50 million dollar initiative to look at the ways new media influence the way young people learn. In line with that new initiative, the foundation is publishing a series of edited volumes on a variety of topics. The initiative also includes a number of online projects, including an online discussion forum, wiki (for members of the intiative), and the Spotlight on DML Blog, which is a cool place to follow some of the work in the series. And, here's my recent entry over there, about race online. One of my colleagues and fellow authors in the volume on "Race and Ethnicity," Mohan Dutta, has an interesting entry about underserved youth and online health activism, that is very worthwhile reading.

Bringing Global Health Data to Life

We often talk about trying to find better, more innovative and engaging ways of sharing complex thoughts, ideas and data with large groups of other people. Thanks to Jenna Mandel-Ricci who shared this video in PH 710. The video clip (simlar to YouTube for those of you familiar with that) is a brief (7 minutes, with brief commercials at the beginning and end) presentation by Dr. Hans Rosling, a professor of international health at Sweden’s world-renowned Karolinska Institute, and founder of Gapminder, a non-profit that seeks to "bring vital global data to life" by developing and distributing free software. Rosling demonstrates some of this software in his presentation about global health, discusses a little about the vision of his non-profit organization, and is clearly energetic and enthusiastic here in this talk, recorded February, 2006 in Monterey, CA. The occasion is The Technology Entertainment Design Conference, also known as TED, an annual conference self-described as "a global community of remarkable people and remarkable ideas." Dr. Rosling sets a new benchmark for us all in terms of presentation of complex data in easy to understand ways.

CLICK THIS LINK TO WATCH THE VIDEO.

Back from Haitus ~

Back to posting after a haitus. Hope to see you around.

eHealth Literacy and Internet Interventions: New Articles from JMIR

The Journal of Medical Internet Research is frequently a good resource for material on health-related technology research. A couple of recent articles are especially noteworthy.

A paper titled, "Internet Interventions for Long-Term Conditions: Patient and Caregiver Quality Criteria," by Cicely Kerr, Elizabeth Murray, Fiona Stevenson, Charles Gore, and Irwin Nazareth (J Med Internet Res 2006 (Jul 28); 8(3):e13), explores a patient-generated analysis of an online intervention.


And, a paper titled, "eHealth Literacy: Essential Skills for Consumer Health in a Networked World," Cameron D Norman, Harvey A Skinner (J Med Internet Res 2006 (Jun 16); 8(2):e9), reviews some of the important skills necessary for evaluating health information online.

HIV Risk and Latino Gay Men: Free Web Seminar

I just got an email notice about a free web seminar with one of the leaders in the field of research on HIV risk among Latino gay men, Dr. Rafael M. Diaz. Here's the notice:


Understanding Latino Gay Men and HIV Risk: A Conversation with Dr. Rafael M Díaz

About this Web Seminar:

Latino gay men continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. Acción Mutua will host a web-based seminar to explore the contexts that put Latino gay men at risk for HIV infection/transmission. More importantly, we will discuss factors that help Latino gay men remain safe, healthy and strong and other issues around resiliency.



Who should sign up?

* Anyone working to prevent new infections/transmissions of HIV among Latino gay men and other men of color
* Anyone seeking to understand the social and cultural context of HIV risk
* Anyone who wants to explore what makes Latino gay men resilient in the face of the HIV/AIDS epidemic


Participants in this seminar will discuss:

Ø The social and cultural context of what it means to be a Latino gay man

Ø The impact of racism, homophobia, and poverty on Latino gay men

Ø How to build upon Latino gay men's individual and collective strengths



*Seminar approach:

We encourage participants to submit questions in order to make the seminar interactive and responsive to their particular concerns. Submit questions between now and the day of the seminar to accionmutua@apla.org; entitle theemail "7/25 Seminar Questions."



Details:

This web seminar is FREE. Participants will log in to the appropriate website and call a toll free number to participate in the discussion.


RSVP: Please sign up by email at accionmutua@apla.org

You will receive instructions on how to log in and what number to call after you register.


DATE: Tuesday, July 25, 2006

TIME: 2:00-3:00 pm (Eastern time)


This is a great opportunity for any one interested in knowing more about HIV risk to learn from one of the leaders in the field.

Pew Report on Bloggers

There's a new Pew Internet and American Life study out, about bloggers:


"The Pew Internet Project blogger survey finds that the American blogosphere dominated by those who use their blogs as personal journals. Most bloggers do not think of what they do as journalism. Most bloggers say they cover a lot of different topics, but when asked to choose one topic, 37% of bloggers cite “my life and experiences” as a primary topic of their blogs. Politics and government ran a very distant second with 11% of bloggers citing issues of public life as the main subject of their blog. Entertainment-related topics were the next most popular blog-type, with 7% of bloggers, followed by sports (6%), general news and current events (5%), business technology (4%), religion, spirituality or faith (2%), a specific hobby or a health problem or illness (each comprising 1% of bloggers). Other topics mentioned include opinions, volunteering, education, photography, causes and passions, and organizations."

Of interest here, is the part I put in bold above, a "specific ... health problem or illness" which makes up 1% of bloggers. An interesting juxtaposition to another finding from the Pew about the fact that health-related information is one of the most often searched for items in people's internet use. Taken together, I think this can only mean that health-related blogs are going to increase over time.

Visionary Behind Wifi in Parks

Personally, I can't wait for the wifi spots in Central Park to go live so I'm following this story closely. In this morning's NYTimes, there's a piece about Marshall Brown the visionary behind the wifi project for the city's parks, who "dreams of the wireless bubble on a grandiose scale," according to the article. I thought this quote from Brown was interesting:

“The first end of Internet expansion was about globalization, but this second phase of wireless Internet is going to be about the Internet made local.” His niche: for example, “What we’re going to enable by installing our portals in the parks is for people to get more in touch with where they happen to be.”

Brown also seems to have a desire to adddress some educational issues with this technology. The wifi hotspot just activated in Battery Park will usher users in through a portal that will offer a historical slide show, a tour of the Dutch gardens, and a video-cam hookup to the Statue of Liberty. As the article states, "In Mr. Brown’s wireless neighborhoods, connectivity is accompanied by educational content."

That's an interesting concept, providing educational content via portals at the free wifi spots. And, it seems like a great opportunity for the City Department of Health, or others interested in public health, to get out a message.

Black Gay Bloggers Protest Homophobia

Ran across this in Newsday.

"A reggae concert meant to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS is coming under fire from some black gay bloggers and activists who are incensed that the lineup includes two artists they consider to be anti-gay.

Among those scheduled to perform at the July 18 show at Webster Hall are Jamaican dancehall artists Beenie Man and the group T.O.K. Protesters have asked the concert's organizer, LIFEbeat - The Music Industry Fights AIDS, to drop them or force them to publicly denounce controversial lyrics in their songs.


'The idea that they would invite artists who encourage murdering gays and lesbians is so outrageous, insulting and unbelievable,' activist Keith Boykin said.

But concert organizers, while rejecting the anti-gay lyrics, said including the commercially successful performers in the show would allow them to reach an audience they otherwise wouldn't get to, pointing out that dancehall, a beat-driven form of Jamaican music, remains hugely popular despite controversy over its lyrical content.

John Canelli, LIFEbeat's executive director, said he felt strongly that the performers' presence would 'create dialogue around AIDS and the Caribbean-American community" and an "opportunity for groundbreaking change and good to come from it.' The artists aren't being paid, he said."

Secret Lives of Teens Online

There's been much hoo-ha (that being the technical term for it) in the old, broadcast media of late about the 'secret lives of teens online,' such as this report from a TV station in Portland, Oregon. And, has anyone watched the reports on Dateline recently? It's as if there's a producer there with a vendetta against the Internet.


And today, via Howard Rheingold, some reason has been re I learned of a newly released research from Professor Larry Rosen at UC-Dominguez Hills. Rosen finds that "only 7% of teens interviewed had ever been approached by anyone with a sexual intent and nearly all of them simply ignored the person or blocked the page." The research isn't based on a random sample (but rather a convenience sample), so it's not generalizable to all teens, or even all teens online. It's interesting, nonetheless, as a counter to the hyperbole and moral panic surrounding sexual predators online.

You can download a press release about Rosen's research here (downloads as a PDF file).

Convergence, Terrific Peer-Reviewed Journal on New Media

I just came across a wonderful journal, called Convergence, The International Journal of Research into New Media. In publication since 1995 (though I just learned of it) today, and based in the UK, full text articles are available from Hunter College library starting from 2004. (Use the "Electronic Journals" link from the main Wexler Library page, and search for Convergence.)

HIV Blogs

The magazine POZ created by, for and about the HIV+ community, has created a new and innovative approach to publishing online with its'roster HIV Blogs, including one by the Editor-in-Chief, Regan Hofmann. More and more, CEO's, editors, and other top level management-types are creating their own blogs (or, having someone else write a blog that has their name on it), and it's good to see this take off in a health-related field. However, the well-intentioned folks at POZ have made the classic public health (and beyond) blunder of not including enough voices (or, in this instance blogs) by people of color. Given the increasing impact of HIV on communities of color, and particularly women in those communities, it's shocking that of the HIV Blogs listed at POZ, only one is by a woman of color.

Resource for Peer-Reviewed Articles about e-Health Education

I ran across what looks to be a valuable resource for peer-reviewed articles about health education and technology, with an international focus. It is The International Electronic Journal of Health Education.

A bit more about the journal from their author guidelines:


"International health education and promotion including articles that focus on programs and research in countries outside the US and articles from within the US that deal with immigrant populations or international outreach activities such as study abroad programs.


Health education and promotion articles are welcome that are most effectively published using the technology available through the Internet. Examples might include reports of computerized health assessments or audio/visual intervention programs. Articles might be accompanied by computer software, PowerPoint presentations, website links or a/v streaming to demonstrate a technology based project or product. These articles may originate from any geographic location, however it will be essential for authors who submit a technology based article to demonstrate the centrality of computer or Internet technology to either the content or presentation of the article."


It's definitely worth browsing their online table of contents for the past couple of years to see if there's anything relevant to your current health / education / technology interests.

Wifi Arrives Soon in NYC Public Parks

From today's New York Times:

By the end of August, wireless networks will be established at 18 locations in 10 of New York City's most prominent parks — including Central, Prospect and Riverside Parks — in a major citywide expansion of free Internet access, according to city officials."

In my view, this is a great news for the city and for urban public health. Spreading wifi networks throughout the city's parks is a small but important step toward a framework that conceptualizes Internet access as a digital entitlement (to use Mansell's phrase) as well as an incremental move toward bridging various digital divides in the city. These impact health in a variety of ways, including but not limited to, greater access to health information that is available online. In some ways, I see the expansion of the wifi network in the city as analogous to the expansion of education in this country two centuries ago.

You can read the full article here (free registration required).

More about Podcasting and Health

Interesting presentation this evening by Iskra and Tara about podcasting and public health. I thought I'd add to the conversation with a couple of additional links.

If you're interested in creating your own podcasts, Apple provides some fairly extensive instructions on how to do it here. You can use iTunes (a free download here) to browse through a catalog of different types of podcasts.

There are also competitors to iTunes, such as Gcast, which offers free podcasting.

And, bringing this back around to health, on the Gcast site you'll notice that they're affiliated with Bono's ONE Campaign to fight HIV/AIDS. Pretty cool.

Literature Review - Deadline Extended

I sent this to everyone via Hunter email this morning, but several of these have bounced back (or been returned as undelivered for past 4 hours), so I'm posting this here. Apologies if you're just now getting word.

Several people have written to ask for extensions on the literature review. Rather than make individual exceptions, I'm extending the deadling for lit reviews until Friday, 7/7 @ 5pm. I still want hard copies (printed on paper), and would like them in my mailbox on the 10th floor ("J. Daniels" under the "Adjunct Faculty"). DO NOT, under any circumstances, slip paper copies under my door. These get thrown away by custodial staff.