This week, we celebrate the importance of digital inclusion. Digital services are essential to helping patients receive the health services they need. Digital Inclusion Week is all about showing support nationwide and bringing attention to digital inclusion programs and services.
Providing Help Through Telehealth
One way North Shore Community Health provides digital inclusivity is through our telehealth services. Telehealth is a form of healthcare that allows medical providers and patients to set up appointments and consultations remotely. We offer telehealth visits by video, providing patients the opportunity to be seen by their health care provider from the comfort of their own homes.
Telehealth services make it easier for patients who lack transportation, might be too sick or disabled to leave home, or simply cannot attend an in-person event for scheduling reasons. With the technology of smartphones and computers, these video visits make it easier than ever for our patients to stay healthy.
The Digital Divide
However, it’s also important that we bring awareness about digital equity and address the digital divide. With digital communication and devices so widespread, it’s easy to take our technology for granted. Not everyone has access to a phone or the internet, cutting them off from valuable support networks and services. That’s why it’s important that we make our medical services digitally inclusive and the technology to use them accessible as well.
How North Shore Community Health Closes the Digital Divide
Our health center is committed to ensuring all patients have access to the internet, devices, and the skills necessary to thrive in a digital world. Our digital navigators are an integral component of addressing the digital divide and we’re excited to continue doing this work.
Maria Pineda, one of our telehealth navigators, has seen many patients without phones and how isolated they are because of it. She’s seen patients who are struggling with homelessness, mental health, or have only just immigrated to the U.S. and how having a phone can completely change their lives. That’s why she works hard to assist the patients who come to her by helping them apply for phones and sign up for our programs.
“A patient from Brazil contacted me by phone and mentioned that she needed a phone, as she had not been in the U.S. for very long. She told me that the phone she was using was borrowed from her brother. She wanted to meet with me in Gloucester to fill out the application in person. I suggested we meet at NSCH in Gloucester, and she immediately agreed. We completed the application that same day at 3 PM.”
“At 5 PM, I called her, and she told me that she had already received a response confirming that she qualified and would be receiving a phone and internet service, which she didn’t have at home. She was very happy to have completed the LinkHealth application with us.”
The world is becoming more digital every day. Ensuring that everyone has access to technology and digital programs makes a major difference in our patients’ lives. This Digital Inclusion Week, North Shore Community Health celebrates how telehealth and our other digitally inclusive programs help our patients and thank our staff members who make it possible.