The arrival of the coronavirus in the U.S. nearly two years ago immediately began producing enormous changes in the workplace. As a result of lockdowns and social distancing policies around the nation, chief among these alterations was that millions of workers lost their jobs. Fortunately for certain kinds of employees, many of them were able to remain at home performing essential tasks. In the health professions, tools such as Zoom and telehealth made it possible for many educators, students, and clinicians to function successfully without having to be in an office, classroom, or clinic.
Less well heralded, but still of increasing relevance apart from the pandemic, are many technological developments with the potential to transform not only the workplace, but also to have an impact on enhancing individual and community health status. For example, newer direct-reading sensor devices are incorporating recent advances in electrochemical, optical or mechanical transducers; nanomaterials; electronics miniaturization; portability; batteries with high-power density; wireless communication; energy-efficient microprocessing; and display technology. Commercial applications of new sensor technologies have led to a variety of health and lifestyle management devices for everyday life. These digital health technology tools, such as fitness trackers, smartwatches, and smartphones function as real-time monitors of various physiological and disease-related signals. Technologies of this nature have led to advances in connected health, telemedicine, sports analytics, ambient intelligence, and workplace “physiolytics.”
According to an article published in the January 2022 issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, existing and newer sensor technologies can be categorized into broad categories. Placeable sensor devices can be placed in and around the workplace to collect information from the ambient work environment. The vast majority of extant Wearable sensors can be attached to a worker's clothing, head, arms or wrists, upper/lower body, or feet, worn as computer-display eyeglasses, or contact lenses, or placed in the ear canal. Moreover, current research into the role of wearable sensing technologies in the construction industry has focused on how sensors can aid in detecting and monitoring risk factors that lead to work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs), falls from elevated heights, and physical fatigue. Implantable sensors constitute a third variety of new items that can be inserted into the skin via microneedles, microchips, or by ingestion.
As these new implements become more commonplace, key questions arise. One is which population subgroups will tend to benefit most from the widespread adoption of such technological instruments? Closely related to the issue of which individuals will be able to obtain products that can enhance their personal health status is the important matter of how to pay for them. Substantial portions of the U.S. population are at a major disadvantage that results from health care inequities. The major health care financing programs Medicare and Medicaid are not in an enviable position to absorb new significant expenditures to ensure that health technology innovations are spread equitably across the population.