Tag Archives: online health information

Discovery into the Online Health Experience of American Indian and Alaskan Natives

image courtesy of nattu

What is the main source of health information for Gen Y American Indian and Alaskan Natives? Wikipedia–and they aren’t alone.

In a study published this month in the Journal of Health Communication, researchers examined the use of online health information resources used by American Indians and Alaska Natives (AIAN). The study is key as it helps fill a gap as often the AIAN population, about 4.9 million in population, is grouped under “other” in most research studies, including those conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

In Search of Insight

The study focused on American Indians in the Central Plains region of the United States specifically and provides insight for those working with members in this community. The study aimed to answer the following research questions:

  1. How do AIAN access the Internet?
  2. How important is the Internet as a health information resource for AIAN?
  3. Where online do AIAN go for health information?
  4. Does gender influence AIAN health Internet usage?
  5. Does age influence AIAN health Internet usage?
  6. How much do AIAN trust online health information?

998 Great Plains AIAN participated in the study. Some of the insights gathered include:

  • Home being the primary place participants accessed the Internet.
  • Email, social networking and school activities dominated Internet-use.
  • 59% reported using the Internet to look for health information with 23% stated that retrieval of health information was their most important online activity. Looking closer, researchers discuss that once the Internet is perceived as useful, it is used intensively for health-related activities.
  • General health and weight control information were the two main health-related uses of the Internet.
  • Generation Y participants relied more heavily on collective health knowledge with 31% sharing that Wikipedia is their main source for health information. Generation X tended to frequent sites containing information from expert sources such as WebMD (37%).
  • Overwhelmingly, more women used the Internet for health-related activities compared to men. Researchers suggest that health communication campaigns employing the Internet may be more effective in reaching AIAN women.
  • A need for accurate gender and age tailoring for programs that use Internet resources or that address health knowledge and education among these groups.

Call to Attention

The majority of AIAN members live in metropolitan areas while 40% live on reservations or tribal land. With a median age of 29 years, AIAN represent a younger population than does the rest of the nation with about 26% living in poverty. Given my own family heritage has faint traces of Cherokee heritage (rumor has it a great, great grandpa down the line was a Cherokee Indian chief), stats like these pull on the heart strings.

The researchers note that there were “very few” Native-specific health sites and those that existed were not widely publicized. Given preliminary analysis, they share that if there were more Native-specific health sites and people know about them (don’t over look this second part), AIAN would be far more likely to use and trust those sites. Researchers also shared that while the Internet is the proper channel to reach younger audiences, when it comes to health campaigns, they stress that interpersonal communication or using peer networks may be more effective.

Are any of these findings surprising to you? What insights can you share based on your work with AIAN communities? 

Citation. Mugur V. Geana, Christine Makosky Daley, Niaman Nazir, Lance Cully, Jesse
Etheridge, Caroline Bledowski, Won S. Choi & K. Allen Greiner (2012): Use of Online Health
 Information Resources by American Indians. Journal of Health Communication, 17(7), 820-835. doi: 10.1080/10810730.2011.650831

 

 

Online and Mobile: The Potential of Personalized Health Information

Personalized Health

An average 24 year old will spend more time on Facebook than they will with their doctor in 20 years, according to Razorfish Health. Given this type of reality, how do you unlock the potential prowess of personalized health in online and mobile health strategies? That is the question.

Personalized Medicine vs. Personalized Health 

We are in an age of personalized medicine. Personalized medicine refers to therapies that can be tailored to an individuals own genetics and physiology. Some relate this to genomics as a way to bridge the gap between the Human Genome Project to individualized healthcare.  According to a report from the Kaufman Foundation, “personalized medicine” is a part of a broader field called personalized health.

Personalized health “includes predictive tests and technologies for individuals and for society, and science-based strategies to prevent or mitigate disease and poor health.” We don’t have to look too far to see personalized health at work, especially given the ongoing evolution in mobile technologies, digital strategies, online communities and health IT.

4 Additional Ps

In social marketing, we talk about 4 P’s (Price, Product, Place and Promotion) and sometimes 8 P’s (adding in Policy, Publics, Partnerships, and Purse Strings). Personalized health involves four Ps of its own as part of P4 Medicine:

  1. Predictive Medicine denotes the creation of therapeutics that will prevent a disease that a person is assessed to have a high probability of developing.
  2. Preventive Medicine refers to the development of a probabilistic health projection for a person based on his or her DNA and protein expression.
  3. Personalized Medicine refers to treating an individual based on his or her unique human genetic variation, completing the predictive and preventive efforts above.
  4. Participatory Medicine denotes patients’ active, informed involvement in their medical choices and care, acting in partnership with their health provider.
How can we best apply these concepts when developing personalized health strategies–especially for the expanding number of digital and mobile formats?

Going Online and Mobile

The Pew Internet & American Life Project recently released a new presentation titled, “Mobile is the Needle; Social is the Thread” which highlights the change in how information is integrated into our daily lives as compared to the turn of the century. One of the sound bytes that pops out the most  is that “information is now portable, participatory and personal.” Question for you: Would you describe your current online efforts, mobile initiatives or content in the same manner?

Herein Lies the Rub

Potential privacy questions aside, how can we apply personalized health online and via mobile devices–in an effective manner? Effective is the key word. Example: 80% of American Internet users have looked for health information online while 10% of American adult cell phone users have signed up for a health app–yet 26% of mobile apps are used only once.

Perhaps the answer lies somewhere in what Darcy Sawartzki describes in her latest post for Social Marketing Quarterly: People like to make stuff–vs. make stuff happen. Perhaps we should take a step back from creating more apps, more Web pages, more online communities and ask: What are the small steps we need to take first? What are the motivations behind the little behaviors that can add up to big changes?

Moving Forward

Thankfully, learning how to make small steps towards big changes is the theme of B.J. Fogg’s Mobile Health Conference this May. Fogg has been looking into the science and psychology behind habit making and how this leads to success in three areas: behavior change, collaborations, and experience design. B.J. Fogg is also known for saying: “Put hot triggers in the way of motivated people” when it comes to designing for success. This starts to make even more sense when you look at what mobile apps researchers at Johns Hopkins University have found to be effective:

  • Those that send reminders to keep patients, such as those with HIV or TB, on their drug regimens.
  • Those that send messages to help people change harmful behaviors such as smoking.
  • Those that use texts about specific goals and behaviors to aid in weight loss.

In their research, one participated said she preferred one app over another “because it was more personalized.” If your not familiar with the personalized health movement yet, it might be time to get on board. As one source says: Whether it’s  mobile or digital health–it’s all personalized [health] to us.”

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Additional Resources:

The Understatement that is Digital Literacy

On Friday, the Department of Commerce’s  National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in collaboration with a number of Federal agencies (including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)  launched of DigitalLiteracy.gov. The Web site serves to “provide libraries, community colleges, schools and workforce training centers a variety of resources and tools for teaching computer and Internet skills, which are increasingly necessary for success in today’s economy.”

This “online portal” serves a dire need and includes:

  • Workforce development materials
  • Curriculum materials
  • Train-the-trainer materials
  • Games and interactive tutorials
  • Reports and articles

Built with a user-friendly taxonomy and easy-to-use search features, the site also includes the opportunity for collaboration and feedback. DigitalLiteracy.gov augments NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, a Recovery Act grant program that invests in projects to expand broadband access and adoption in the United States.

Working Group Members of the Digital Literacy Initiative
What’s Cool

Often, sites launch and then people think about marketing them based on a mentality that “if you build it, they will come.” This might have worked for the Field of Dreams, but marketing and outreach needs to be a core component of launching any product from the get go. So get this:

NTIA is partnering with the American Library Association and the Institute of Museum and Library Services to promote the use of the portal by the nation’s 16,600 public libraries. Now THAT is interesting and THAT is where the real change will occur. This piece of information was the last bit of content shared in the three-page fact sheet about the launch. Yet, it’s where the real meat is (IMO).

Yes, having this resource is great and the fact that so many people are coming together around digital literacy is especially important to recognize. But here’s the thing: The launch of the site is a great milestone, but it’s only the beginning.

Digital Literacy and Public Health

Public health folks need to pay attention. More and more health information is going online and digital. How are the people who most need this information going to use it if 1) they can’t access it and 2) they don’t fully understand it? DigitalLiteracy.gov provides information to those working to help Americans develop digital literacy skills–but there’s also the feedback loop.

Librarians are public health professionals who often advocate to be a part of the solution, but who are sometimes overlooked–not anymore. 16,600 libraries means at least 16,600 stories. Let’s hope we get to hear about how these libraries are using DigitalLiteracy.gov and the impact its having on library patrons.

One of the best parts of the site is the “In the Community” section which highlights best practices from a variety of programs working to address digital inclusion and digital literacy. We need to hear–and listen to–these stories. We need the stories of success–just as much as we need to hear about the ones that failed. Why? Because it’s all about learning. We can learn from those teaching digital literacy and from those developing their digital literacy skills themselves to inform how we produce and deliver public health information.

Broadband access and digital literacy is vitally relevant to public health. Because of this, all public health folks should read the National Broadband Plan, understand it, and advocate for digital literacy and health literacy. Without either, we won’t get too far.