Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 252 results  for your search.  View and Refine Your Search Terms

  • What Estonia could teach us about internet voting in a post-pandemic world

    Estonia’s i-Voting system is currently used by 46.7% of voters and allows them to vote from home using a government-issued smart card. To vote, residents need a computer with a card reader or can have their encrypted ID linked to their cell phone SIM card. They can track their vote with a QR code and are able to change their choices any time during the 10-day voting period. Estonia is currently the only country to use this method, in part because eroding government trust has prevented the use of centralized systems that track personal information.

    Read More

  • Connecting With Incarcerated Parents Is Easier With Photo Patch, an App Developed By a Teen

    The Photo Patch Foundation helps connect children with parents who are experiencing incarceration. Using its website or mobile app, children can write letters and upload photos, which will then be printed and mailed by the organization at no cost. The Foundation, funded by donations and grants, was created by a father-daughter duo who had experienced the issue firsthand.

    Read More

  • Using a Mobile Phone Survey to Investigate South Sudan's Conflict

    To tell the stories of victims of forced displacement, property destruction, and occupation in South Sudan, a team of journalists devised a phone survey to gauge the extent of the problem. By surveying hard-to-reach people in refugee camps, one of many barriers to traditional reporting due to the government's repressive tactics, the reporters pinpointed areas where people had been forced off their land, many by government soldiers. The survey was recorded in six languages and was made statistically valid by consulting outside experts and transparently disclosing its limitations.

    Read More

  • How an Alberta text messaging program is helping people cope with COVID-19

    An Alberta Health Services’ text messaging service called Text4Hope is giving people text messages to help them cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. The texts, written by mental health therapists, use cognitive behavioral therapy, helping people disrupt the constant stream of negative thoughts that happen during traumatic times. So far, over 30,000 people have signed up.

    Read More

  • Israeli Phone Apps Aim to Track Coronavirus, Guard Privacy

    The use of mobile phone technology can aid in contact tracing and the collection of public health data. In Israel, the government’s use of GPS phone locations to trace cases of COVID-19 raised scrutiny regarding privacy and accountability. Instead, a newer, open-source app called Hamagen invites users to download and voluntarily participate in contact tracing. Other measures put in place to safeguard personal privacy concerns include parliamentary oversight of governmental tracing programs.

    Read More

  • Text-to-911 Saves Lives, but Data Suggests It Remains Rare

    Significant growth in the availability of text-to-911 technology has meant greater safety for people whose speaking ability or dangerous surroundings prevent them from making voice calls to 911. Various states have used different methods to enable the spread of such services, with no one-size-fits-all approach. Federal data show the number of emergency texts grew from about 1,000 in 2014 to more than 188,000 in 2018. While data are incomplete, a majority of the U.S. evidently remains outside areas with 911 call centers that can receive text messages.

    Read More

  • At this COVID-19 test center, you're not just a number

    The University of North Carolina's healthcare system is utilizing virtual care centers and mobile communications to more efficiently prioritize potential COVID-19 cases and better track people after they've been tested. After someone has been tested, virtual communication continues whether or not they tested positive for the virus, which has helped mitigate concerns for patients about how to best manage the symptoms they're experiencing, regardless of the diagnosis.

    Read More

  • My Friend Died of COVID-19 and I'm Learning How to Grieve in Isolation

    Cell phones are being used as a new tool during the coronavirus pandemic to help people who have lost loved ones to process and cope with their grief. Although mobile therapy platforms and online counseling options have their limitations, counselors still say that, "being online and making sure to connect, even virtually, is crucial for helping people learn how to grieve and recover."

    Read More

  • ‘Dial-A-Priest': Episcopal Clergy Offering Final Prayers Remotely

    Connecting to a priest—by video or telephone—can offer relief to those dying alone. The Virginia Theological Seminary and General Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia, recently launched Dial-A-Priest, a service that allows patients to pray with Episcopal priests. The hotline connects callers to a network of priests on duty to offer final prayer services, 24-hours a day.

    Read More

  • Governments are using cellphone location data to manage the coronavirus

    Governments across the world are using data from cell phones to better track the movement of those under quarantine restrictions during coronavirus. While each country using this containment strategy is implementing it in different ways, the information shared is kept anonymous but, in some cases, grants the greater public access to movements of individuals to know where possible contagions may have occurred.

    Read More