Communication and Media Speaker Series

The health system of the United States (US) has long exhibited wide disparities in health and health care. Although the government has set increasingly ambitious goals to reduce health disparities, overall progress has been rather modest, and race and ethnicity remain as significant predictors of health disparities in the US. Transformative developments in information and communication technology (ICT) may offer opportunities to reduce minority health disparities. However, as exemplified by the concept of digital divide, the current context in which ICTs are being deployed is already characterized by inequalities for minority populations. Several recent studies report that mobile communication technology may serve as a way to overcome the digital divide and reach minority populations effectively. This talk describes an intervention study of the University of Hawaii Cancer Center and the University of Guam to use mobile technology to reduce cervical cancer screening disparity among Chuukese and Marshallese women, a recent migrant group from the United States Affiliated Pacific Islands who suffer from high and unequal burden of chronic and infectious diseases.