As LGBT protests unfold and reactions in the media become increasingly revolutionary, Apple peacefully partners with the community in an attempt to raise awareness over health issues. The tech giant is leading a large-scale medical study with the help of advanced technology, aiming to collect precious data from the LGBT members.
The iPhone and the ResearchKit will be the main tools supporting all data gathering and the University of California San Francisco will launch what is called the Pride Study this month, surveying lesbian, queer, gay, bisexual and transsexual iPhone users around risk factors including HIV/AIDS, cancer, obesity, smoking and depression.
This is the first time a leader of the tech industry involves itself in a social matter that stirs so much controversy. The LGBT community continues to raise its voices against inequality of chances, feeling outweighed, outnumbered and stigmatized by societies that are constantly addressing the issue of normal sexual behavior.
The Pride study will be strategically launched at the same time with the San Francisco Pride parade, taking place on June 27. Every gay, transgender, bisexual, queer and iPhone user at the same time, is invited to participate in the study by downloading the Pride Study App from the App store.
The iPhone app will use the ResearchKit software framework to highlight the special health needs of the LGBT community. The University of California San Francisco intends to survey people about an extensive range of health risk factors that may lead to serious affections, depression and cancer included.
Apple believes that the PRIDE study app and the iPhone’s enormous user base will offer precious insights to strengthen medical research into transgender and bisexual individuals. These are understudied populations, compared to gay men and lesbians and detailed research could lead to a better understanding of the entire diversity which defines the LGBT community.
Studies related to depression will offer deeper knowledge on the community’s inner workings, leading to conclusions that may influence the level of tolerance inside societies, still reluctant to sexual diversity.
The Pride study is the largest research ever conducted over the potential issues affecting this minority and it will offer massive help to develop strategies for addressing some of these matters in the future. The information that the app targets has been extremely difficult to obtain in earlier research.
Diversity and acceptance are two concepts that societies still fail to assimilate, letting themselves be conducted by taboos and traditional perceptions over morality, equity and sexuality. The Apple initiative will hopefully shed light on this hot topic that makes the world burst into opinionated debates. Apple conducts massive LGBT health study, aiming to promote equity and tolerance among individuals and offer the best level of understanding for people of all kinds, colors, races and sexual preferences.
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