The Public Library of Science (PLOS) and the Digital Transformations for Health Lab (DTH-Lab) have formed a strategic partnership to enhance youth participation in science. This collaboration will focus on creating mentorship opportunities, amplifying youth voices in scientific publishing, and developing a body of research on digital health citizenship through a mini-collection.
The Public Library of Science (PLOS) and the Digital Transformations for Health Lab (DTH-Lab), today announced a strategic partnership between the organizations to increase youth participation in science to include mentorship opportunities, amplifying youth voices in scientific publishing and building a body of research in digital health citizenship with a mini-collection.
“This strategic partnership with DTH-Lab will ensure that the youth is empowered to shape the medical knowledge system. We, in the business of knowledge validation and dissemination, have failed to address the age-old issues in healthcare: lack of systems and design thinking training among clinicians, human biases in decision-making, power structures within legacy systems, perverse incentive structures (financing, academia),” said Leo Anthony Celi, Editor-in-Chief, PLOS Digital Health.” “We have suffered from failure of collective imagination because everyone thinks alike. We, in academia, cannot see the whole picture because our blind spots overlap. We need people with different blind spots so we can begin to see the image in the jigsaw puzzle. If everyone is thinking alike, then everyone is not thinking. This is where the perspective of the youth can make a huge difference.”
“We are excited to partner with PLOS to strengthen our mission to extend opportunities for young people to help shape scientific research and policymaking for improved health futures,” said Aferdita Bytyqi, Executive Director, DTH-Lab. “This is a timely collaboration that aims to diversify youth voices and cultivate youth leadership. PLOS is an exemplary partner that will bolster the promotion of young thought leaders on issues related to digital and health governance.”
The DTH-Lab’s cohort of Regional Youth Champions (RYC) are key partners who help support young people at the local and regional level to become informed and enfranchised digital health citizens through concerted efforts that capture and reflect their diverse views and experiences. In addition to the RYC cohort, the DTH-Lab has a youth network of over 300 young people from around the world.
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Digital transformations are shaping all aspects of our lives, including health. Digital innovations can help to improve young people’s health and well-being and achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) through their application in health systems, public health promotion and prevention, and personal self-management of health status and behaviours. Without good governance, digital transformations can undermine health and exacerbate inequality. As levels of connectivity increase, concerted efforts are required to ensure that digital technologies are harnessed in support of better health and well-being for all and the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
The DTH-Lab is a global consortium of partners working to drive implementation of The Lancet and Financial Times Commission on Governing Health Futures 2030’s recommendations for value-based digital transformations for health co-created with young people.
