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. 2018 May 14;20(5):e182.
doi: 10.2196/jmir.9434.

Too Important to Ignore: Leveraging Digital Technology to Improve Chronic Illness Management Among Black Men

Stuart W Grande #  1 , Ledric D Sherman #  2
Affiliations

Too Important to Ignore: Leveraging Digital Technology to Improve Chronic Illness Management Among Black Men

Stuart W Grande et al. J Med Internet Res. .

Abstract

Health disparities associated with chronic illness experiences of black men demonstrate widespread, systematic failures to meet an urgent need. Well-established social and behavioral determinants that have led to health disparities among black men include racism, discrimination, and stress. While advocacy work that includes community-engagement and tailoring health promotion strategies have shown local impact, evidence shows the gaps are increasing. We suspect that failure to reduce current disparities may be due to conventional public health interventions and programs; therefore, we submit that innovative interventions, ones that embrace digital technologies and their ability to harness naturally occurring social networks within groups, like black men, have particular importance and deserve attention. This commentary characterizes the current literature on chronic illness among black men as well as health interventions that use digital technology, to build a case for expanding research in this area to reduce the overwhelming burden of chronic illness among black men.

Keywords: black men; chronic illness; digital health.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

Comment in

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