Paper
Sunday, November 4, 2007
304
Computer Mediated Health Education for Hispanics
J. Susan Andersen, PhD, APRN, BC, School of Nursing, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX, USA and Per H. Andersen, PhD, PE, Computer Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA.
| Learning Objective #1: describe a method of addressing health disparities using infomatics. |
| Learning Objective #2: describe aspects of health literacy related to the Mexican American underserved population. |
Although automated kiosks have become prominent in daily life, health education is one area where this technology is not fully utilized. Rural clinics and urban medically underserved areas are experiencing a shortage of health care providers, putting the burden for health education on an already strained provider. Rural and inner city populations tend to have lower rates of health literacy, the ability to obtain, process and understand basic health information. Those who need the most time with the provider for education may not get it. An interdisciplinary team, comprised of nursing, computer science and mass communications expertise, came together to address this issue. The target population is of Mexican descent, including migrant workers. This group has limited English and speaks Spanish as a first language, but may not read either language. Since smoking is an increasing problem among those of Mexican descent, the computer based education focused on this. Two focus groups of 5 male and female Hispanics and usability testing on 3 female Hispanics were used to develop and refine the content and the graphic user interface. The kiosk is being field tested to compare knowledge acquisition using either an intelligent, adaptive system or a nonadaptive system.