The American Telemedicine Association, (ATA) has featured ongoing ITSRG research on the use of a Telemedicine System at Temple University to monitor Cardiovascular Disease in its widely circulated January 4, 2008  Newsletter. The ATA is the premier association which advocates for greater access to medical care and for consumers and health professionals via telecommunications technology.  Its members include health care professionals, administrators, technology specialists, providers of telemedicine products and services, and students from around the world.

Temple University Faculty researchers from ITSRG, The Department of Geography and Urban Studies and the Temple Telemedicine Research Center released a paper, "Theorizing the digital divide: Information and communication technology use frameworks among poor women using a telemedicine system," in Geoforum arguing for the need to better understand how health information and the Internet are accessed and used among various social classes.

Authors Melissa Gilbert, Michele Masucci, Alfred Bove and Carol Homko recommend that policy makers recognize that economically disadvantaged persons face significant challenges and barriers when they access, share and use digital information. ITSRG developed and provided the computer and Internet training for the participants of the telemedicine study. For the complete Geoforum article, please visit Geoforum. Originally Posted on 3/26/08.

Caroline Guigar
Temple University