Dean’s Lecture Series: Dr. Devlon Jackson
Date/Time: Wednesday, May 19, 2021 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location: Virtual
A Snapshot, Coordination, & An App: How Digital Tools Can Improve the Health of Vulnerable Populations
Speaker: Devlon N. Jackson, PhD, MPH
Abstract: This presentation will provide the audience with a comprehensive review of how digital tools can improve the health of vulnerable populations through examples at the national, provider, and consumer level. The presenter will describe three different projects that address each of these levels respectively. The first project will include a synthesis of digital health and health literacy trends, as well as the disparities that persist. The second project will describe how providers can utilize health information technology to improve care coordination for racial and ethnic populations. Lastly, the third project will describe the value of directly engaging vulnerable populations in developing a mHealth smartphone application. These projects in sum will include proposed remedies to address digital health issues and hopefully demonstrate how digital health tools can contribute to achieving health equity for vulnerable populations.
Bio: Dr. Devlon N. Jackson is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Behavioral and Community Health in the School of Public Health at the University of Maryland. Dr. Jackson is trained as a health communication scientist whose research examines how digital health tools can improve the health of vulnerable populations. Specifically, she assesses this work at the consumer- and provider-level by exploring how consumers access and use these tools within and outside of the clinical setting, and how providers use these tools to improve care. Her research also identifies communication inequalities that exist and inhibit consumers and providers from accessing and using these tools. Additionally, Dr. Jackson understands that one’s mental health can greatly impact physical wellness; therefore, her research also includes assessing how digital health can support mental health wellness comprehensively. As a result, she was recently awarded an Investigator Diversity Research Supplement grant from the NIH-National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. This grant assesses how HIT can improve care coordination for the mental and physical wellness of African American and Hispanic communities.