Digital Health and Health Disparities Research Lab

National Institute On Minority Health And Health Disparities

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

We conducted focus group discussions to inform the development of a mobile application for physical activity targeting African American women at risk for cardiovascular disease. We also explored potential benefits and barriers associated with their use of mobile technology and wearables for health purposes using a community based participatory research approach. We identified patient and clinician factors that are associated with poor patient-clinician communication. Examples of patient-related factors include belonging to a racial/ethnic minority group and low health and digital literacy. Examples of clinician-related factors include having communication skills and personality characteristics that are not conducive to shared-decision making and having unconscious biases. We offered recommendations to improve patient-clinician communication, notably by using health information technologies to automate collection of social determinants of health and dispatchment of needed services accordingly. We tested the impact of marketing claims on beliefs of US adults and adolescents of modified risk tobacco products (MRTPs). MRTPs are marketed for products that reduce tobacco-related harm or risk in comparison to other commercially available tobacco products. We found that claims of reduced exposure to harmful chemicals lowered the publics perceived risk of MRTPs, which is not allowed under the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.