Including the Public in Public eHealth: The Need for Community Participation in the Development of State-Sponsored COVID-19-Related Mobile Apps.

The COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmed health care systems worldwide, particularly in underresourced communities of color with a high prevalence of pre-existing health conditions. Many state governments and health care entities responded by increasing their capacity for telemedicine and disease tracking and creating mobile apps for dissemination of medical information. Our experiences with state-sponsored apps suggest that because many of these eHealth tools did not include community participation, they inadvertently contributed to widening digital health disparities.

Impact of occupational exposure to COVID-19 on the physical and mental health of an essential workgroup: New York City transit workers.

Background And Purpose: Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City (NYC) vowed to “keep the subways running” despite the lack of plans in place for protecting the health and well-being of transit workers. This study was designed to assess the impact of employment during the early phase of the pandemic on this essential frontline workforce.

Methods, Settings, And Study Participants: A convenience sample of members (stratified by job title) of the NYC Transport Workers Union, Local 100, was recruited in August 2020 to participate in an anonymous, cross-sectional, internet-based survey.