From human-centric digital health to digital One Health: Crucial new directions for mutual flourishing

Abstract

This brief communication puts forward an argument for expanding the concept of ‘digital health’ to that of ‘digital One Health’ by going beyond a human-centric approach to incorporating nonhuman agents, including other living things, places and space. One Health approaches recognise the interconnected and ecological dimensions of human health and wellbeing, but rarely focus on the role of digital technologies. A set of key questions can take the idea of digital One Health forward: (i) How can we learn more about and establish deeper connections with other animals and the natural environment through digital media, devices and data?; (ii) How can we attune humans to these more-than-human worlds using digital technologies, cultivating attentiveness and responsiveness?; (iii) How can we better develop and implement digital technologies that support the health and wellbeing of the planet and all its living creatures (including humans) so that all can flourish?; and (iv) How can digital technologies affect ecological systems, for better or for worse? Developing digital One Health expands both the digital health field and the One Health perspective, leading them into crucial new directions for mutual flourishing.