The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed clear differences in the ability of marginalized people to access appropriate healthcare and achieve positive health outcomes.
Although Covid-19 affects everyone, it has harmed people of color and people in rural areas in a disproportionately higher percentage.
Technology is capable of solving some of the problems shown in reports of systemic problems and other contributors to these challenges. Technology already exists in many forms that can reduce the impact of Covid-19 on marginalized communities, but has been largely ignored.
Let us look at the three important factors that lead to Covid-19 cases in marginalized communities: screening, testing and tracking.
Our current screening, testing and tracking system is based on the assumption that people at risk of Covid-19 have easy access to doctors and facilities to screen their exposure potential. It also assumes that they can easily go to the on-site facility for testing and can provide the information needed by medical staff to determine other possible exposures (tracking).
However, this idea ignores people living near these types of facilities. People living in resource-poor communities no longer have access to healthcare facilities, and face challenges ranging from the inability to go to the facilities in person (lack of transportation) to the lack of the ability of primary care providers to seek advice. These and other factors can hinder the implementation of reliable (and fair) screening, testing, tracking, and treatment systems.
Technology can greatly bridge this gap. Although technology is not a panacea, it can help marginalized people connect with caregivers and researchers in a simpler way, ensuring that their voices are heard during the research process.
- filter: By avoiding the logistical and financial challenges of personally visiting a medical institution or provider, today’s “digital screening app” provides an alternative that relies on a platform that most people already master-the mobile phone. Algorithms can determine the likelihood of exposure and related symptoms. Just like providers, digital screening tools can quickly classify the risks of individuals (such as first-line grocery or retail workers or people living in apartments or multi-generational households) without going to a doctor Obstacles in the office.
- test: Home test kits continue to be popular. These test kits can be easily and accurately completed in one’s home, and can be delivered to those in need. The results can be sent to the laboratory, and then the individual is notified of the results. This work can easily be done remotely, without the potential patient having to communicate face-to-face with other people.
- track: These results can also be automatically provided to local health systems, which are set up for contact tracing. For example, the DC Contact Trace Force of the Washington, DC Department of Health can notify others of possible exposures and provide them with the appropriate guidance and information needed to manage quarantine.
These systems cannot work alone. They must be connected to the workflow that triggers the next stage of the process. For example, the same application that screens an individual and finds that the likelihood of infection is high can automatically request that a home test kit be sent to that person from a participating laboratory facility. In some cases, test results can automatically alert patients and their care institutions for contact tracing.
The system has proven effective, but it is still not the norm. What is holding us back? This is certainly not technology. As you can see, it already exists in the market. Instead, funding and government support are needed to extend these existing tools to a single platform and promote the distribution and awareness of the platform’s existence so that all communities can access it.
Imagine that only a small portion of the resources provided by the government for vaccine research and distribution are used to simply build a platform for what is already available and extend it to marginalized communities (and other communities) in the United States. It is easy to imagine how far we can mitigate the spread and terrible impact of this virus in our communities.
As we continue our national dialogue on the power of fairness and diversity, I most sincerely hope that our decision makers and elected leaders will also see the relatively low-hanging fruit before their eyes—one that can significantly reduce disproportionate proportions. A powerful solution to harm Covid-19 is leading to marginalized communities.
