Dr. Omar Manejwala delivered a keynote that gave a futuristic perspective on treatment in our speaker series, Let’s Discuss: Shining a Spotlight on Mental Wellness. Here are a couple of takeaways:
Demonstrating value for information
Dr. Omar Manejwala pointed out that people are willing to trade privacy for valuable services. He also said that building better, more holistic algorithms and data sets from collections of people’s health and diagnosis information could be massively beneficial in the long run. However, some people may feel that collecting what’s needed for them is invasive. So, for people to feel comfortable with these potential innovations, designers and providers must communicate and illustrate their value.
Mindfulness around algorithms Â
Omar cautioned that we need to be especially careful when designing and maintaining algorithms, data sets and any systems meant to help ease and streamline the process of diagnosis and treatments. Because depending on who is monitoring them and what they are designed to do, they could potentially harm, misdiagnose or perpetuate systemic issues. This is why it’s essential to consistently re-evaluate and ensure a diverse amount of people are monitoring/designing them.
