A regional initiative designed to make artificial intelligence more accessible and useful to underserved communities has entered its implementation phase.
Supported by a Digital Equity Grant from the Cleveland Foundation and administered through WellLink, the AI Health Literacy Training Initiative will provide practical education to 300 individuals in Cleveland’s Slavic Village and Buckeye-Shaker neighborhoods.
The program is being developed in collaboration with the Northern Ohio HIMSS AI Center of Excellence. Paguar Informatics is providing leadership, administration, and coordination support to help move the initiative from planning into community delivery.
Training will focus on helping participants understand how AI can be used to locate reliable health information, prepare for healthcare conversations, ask better questions, recognize potentially misleading content, and protect their personal information. The curriculum is being designed for seniors, first-time AI users, and others who may have had limited access to emerging technologies.
With the grant agreement now fully executed, curriculum development and program coordination are underway. Community training sessions are expected to begin in fall 2026.
“This initiative is about giving people practical skills they can use in their everyday lives,” said John Paganini, President of Paguar Informatics and Co-Chair of the Northern Ohio HIMSS AI Center of Excellence. “AI is becoming part of how people find and understand health information. Everyone should have the opportunity to use these tools confidently, responsibly, and safely.”
The initiative represents an important step toward reducing the emerging AI divide and ensuring that advances in artificial intelligence benefit the entire community.