The TecHealth initiative aims to build a regional, transdisciplinary scientific team that merges medical, social science, and big data research approaches to better understand the role that digital technology use plays in shaping health and well-being at home, at work, at school, and in medical settings.
We draw on social science to leverage knowledge about how individual attitudes and traits, as well as larger interactional and institutional social processes, influence access to and use of digital tools and applications in ways that impact health and well-being. We merge this approach with more traditional medical models and emphasize big data methods to deepen knowledge about the possible health implications of technology use in key groups and settings.
- How can health information best be communicated to, and understood, by key groups?
- Do “digital divides” impact health disparities?
- What are the implications of electronic health records (EHRs) for the doctor-patient relationship?
- What are the reciprocal influences between technology and social interactions inside and outside the family?
- What are the health and social implications of new Big Data approaches to information science?
There are opportunities for both medical and social researchers with broad interests in technology and health and a desire to engage in transdisciplinary approaches in grant applications, projects, research papers, and commercial applications to join our team.