A University of Cincinnati cardiologist is part of a trio working to develop a smartphone app to deliver information about Covid-19 to Black communities nationwide.
Donald Lynch, who is also an assistant professor of cardiovascular health and disease at UC, said the app will serve to empower the African American community, which has been disproportionately impacted by the deadly virus and other cardiovascular-related illnesses.
Lynch is one of three researchers conducting a yearlong study to develop the app based on focus groups in Cincinnati, St. Louis and Statesboro, Georgia. He is partnering with Tilicia Mayo-Gamble at Georgia Southern University and Kelly Harris at Washington University in St. Louis on the pilot.
The effort received a $25,000 grant from the Association of Black Cardiologist to complete the pilot study, according to a news release.
"Based on the feedback, we will build our app," Lynch said in a statement. "The stakeholder conversations will conclude at the end of three months, and we hope to get a pilot version of our app available for community members to test. We know many people have access to smartphones, and we think this will work well for our study."
According to the release, Black residents account for 14% of the state's population, but 16.7% of the state's Covid-19 cases and 17.1% of the state's Covid-related deaths.
