Events

UConn Center for mHealth and Social Media, 6th Annual Conference

6th Annual Conference, May 19-20, 2022
Telehealth and Remote Care in a Post-Pandemic World

Telehealth utilization grew by 78 fold during the pandemic as the need for safe means to access and deliver healthcare was greater than ever. This rapid expansion of telehealth was enabled by regulatory changes, some temporary and some permanent, which expanded reimbursement for telehealth-delivered care. Given that patient and provider willingness to use telehealth and the skills to do so have increased, a roadmap is now needed for virtual care models that serve the goals of improving access to care, outcomes, and affordability. This virtual conference will feature topics including health equity, asynchronous interventions and care, and telehealth and the patient experience.

Abstract Submissions: Deadline Monday, March 14th, 12AM PT
Registration open now until May 17, 2022 11:59 PM ET

International Society for Research on Internet Interventions (ISRII) 11th Scientific Meeting

Pittsburgh, PA | September 19-21, 2022
Storm Clouds and Silver Linings: How Digital Technologies Have Helped Us Weather the COVID Pandemic

Digital health has evolved tremendously since 2004 when ISRII held its first Scientific Meeting. Back then, the release of the first iPhone that launched the modern smartphone era was still three years away, and Internet interventions have expanded to encompass the fields of mobile health, social media, artificial intelligence, machine learning, virtual reality, wearables, and more. The theme for ISRII’s 11th Scientific Meeting is Storm Clouds and Silver Linings: How Digital Technologies Have Helped Us Weather the COVID Pandemic. Attend ISRII 11 to stay informed on the latest international developments and trends in digital health, network with colleagues, and share your research!

Call for Papers/Abstracts will open in late February
Early Registration will open March – June 2022

Opportunities

The Mercury Project

Social Science Research Council’s new initiative, the Mercury Project, is offering grants to research teams to address one of two research objectives using rigorous and creative methods over three years:

1. Estimate the causal impacts of mis- and disinformation on online and offline outcomes in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, including health, economic, and/or social outcomes, differential impacts across socio-demographic groups, and quantifying the global costs of those impacts.
2. Estimate the causal impacts of online or offline interventions in the United States, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean to increase uptake of Covid-19 vaccines and other recommended public health measures by countering mis- and disinformation, including interventions that target the producers or the consumers of mis- and disinformation, or that increase confidence in reliable information.

Full application details here: https://www.ssrc.org/programs/the-mercury-project/call-for-proposals/

Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Public Health and Technology, University of Arkansas

The Postdoctoral Fellow in Public Health will work under the supervision of PRISM Steering Committee member, Dr. Philip Massey (Director of the Center for Public Health and Technology and Associate Professor of Public Health) on social media and health research. This is a one-year appointment, renewable based on the need for the position, availability of funding, and continued satisfactory level of performance in the role. Training will be in digital and social media health communication including vaccine hesitancy, substance use, online ethics, global health, and more. Come join our growing team!

This opportunity for mentored career development and research time will allow the postdoc to grow as a scientist and prepare themselves for the job market.

Apply here: Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Public Health and Technology

For questions, reach out to Dr. Philip Massey at [email protected].

News

Updated advertising restrictions on Meta platforms

By Cesar Escobar-Viera (PRISM Steering Committee Member)

In January of this year, Meta (formerly known as Facebook, Inc) announced new advertising restrictions on all Meta-owned platforms. These updates eliminate the ability to target ads by certain specific interest topics. For example, ads cannot target the “LGBT” interest anymore. This is potentially challenging for researchers who utilize social media platforms for participant recruitment.

1. Pixels (https://www.facebook.com/business/learn/facebook-ads-pixel): A pixel is a unique ID number embedded into the code of your website that tracks users who visit your webpage.
2. Segmented Targeted Interests: Though not ideal, Facebook still offers some targeted interests for ads.

Call for Papers

JMIR Publications is delighted to announce a collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) in publishing a theme issue entitled “Chatbots and COVID-19”. Deadline is April 30, 2022.

Recent Social Media and Health Publications

Benis A, Chatsubi A, Levner E, Ashkenazi S. Change in Threads on Twitter Regarding Influenza, Vaccines, and Vaccination During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Artificial Intelligence–Based Infodemiology Study. JMIR Infodemiology 2021;1(1):e31983. doi: 10.2196/31983. PMID: 34693212. PMCID: 8521455

This paper sought to define an artificial intelligence–based approach to elucidate how threads on Twitter on influenza vaccination changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.