Adolescent and Parent Use of New Technologies for Health Communication: A Study in An Urban Latino Community

Abstract

BackgroundMobile communication technologies provide novel opportunities to support clinic-based health initiatives. Adoption of technologies for daily use and for health communication can differ between communities, depending upon demographic and cultural characteristics.Design and methodsA survey was administered in adolescent primary care and subspecialty clinics to assess parent-adolescent preferences in use of mobile technologies and social media to support provider-patient communication in an urban Latino community.ResultsOf 130 respondents (65 parent-adolescent pairs), approximately half frequently sent and received text messages but lacked agreement regarding the other’s text messaging use. In contrast, adolescents only rarely used email compared to parents (15.4% versus 37.5%, P=0.006). Of social media, Facebook™/MySpace™ was most frequently used by parents and youth (60% and 55.4%, P=0.59); however, most lacked interest in using social media for health communication. Parents reported more interest than adolescents in receiving email (73.4% versus 35.9%, P<0.001) and text messages (58.5% versus 33.9%, P=0.005) for health, but had more concerns about privacy issues (26.2% versus 9.2%, P=0.01). Respondents who were American born (aOR 5.7, 95%CI 1.2-28.5) or regularly used Instant Messaging or Facebook™/MySpace™ (aOR 4.6, 95%CI 1.4-14.7) were more likely to be interested in using social media for health communication.ConclusionsThese findings underscore the importance of targeted assessment for planning the utilization of communication technologies and social media in clinical care or research for underserved youth.Significance for public healthCommunication technologies provide novel opportunities to support clinic-based health initiatives for underserved youth. However, adoption of technologies among communities may differ depending upon demographic and cultural characteristics. We surveyed a sample of urban Latino parents and youth regarding their current use of mobile and social media technologies and preferences for use of these technologies for health communication. This is the first study to compare the perspective of underserved parents and their youth regarding use of a wide variety of mobile and social communication technologies, concordance between youth-parent pairs in perceived use of texting and preferences for the purpose of health communication. Our findings differ from those from adults surveyed in other under-served communities, highlighting heterogeneity between communities. Variations in use of communication technologies and social media and preferences between parent-youth pairs suggest that understanding these factors within target populations is crucial for successful use to support health and health services.

Adelante Ambassadors: Using Digital Media to Facilitate Community Engagement and Risk-Prevention for Latino Youth

“…Similarly, Smaldone et al (2015) surveyed urban, underserved Latino adolescents about their mobile technologies and social media use and found that most youth lacked an interest in using social media for health communication despite the medium's widespread use among the population (Smaldone et al, 2015). Respondents who were foreign born were less likely to be interested in using social media for health communication than U.S. born Latinos (Smaldone et al, 2015). Our findings suggest that the content and format of social media health communication matters.…”

“…In a study of ninth-and tenth-grade, self-identifying Latino adolescents from public high schools in Maryland, recent immigrants (within the last three years) and Spanish-dominant respondents had significantly less access and less frequent use of social media (Vyas, Landry, Schnider, Rojas, & Wood, 2012). Similarly, Smaldone et al (2015) surveyed urban, underserved Latino adolescents about their mobile technologies and social media use and found that most youth lacked an interest in using social media for health communication despite the medium's widespread use among the population (Smaldone et al, 2015). Respondents who were foreign born were less likely to be interested in using social media for health communication than U.S. born Latinos (Smaldone et al, 2015).…”

“…Evidence suggests Langley Park teens are avid mobile and social media users, with 84% reporting use of a smartphone for their primary internet access and 60% reporting use of the social networking platform Instagram . However, research in other communities suggests digital media use and preferences among Latino teens can differ depending on nativity and language (Livingston & Lopez, 2010;Smaldone et al, 2015;Vyas et al, 2012). To explore this further, and take advantage of the broad reach of social media in Langley Park, Adelante Ambassadors acted as peer models in person, online, and in videos, providing concrete examples of resilient youth for their community peers to see (Bandura, 1986;.…”

HABIT efficacy and sustainability trial, a multi-center randomized controlled trial to improve hydroxyurea adherence in youth with sickle cell disease: a study protocol

“…Texting health messages can be an effective way to send reminders from professionals to parents [63] and youth [64, 65] and is well accepted in our community [66]. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of interventions to improve adherence among youth affected by chronic illness [67, 68] demonstrate the added value of multi-component interventions.…”

Text Messaging to Enhance Behavioral Health Treatment Engagement Among Justice-Involved Youth: Qualitative and User Testing Study

“…In another study, the use of bidirectional SMS text messaging with caregivers to enhance adolescents’ receipt of vaccine and well-care services improved adolescents’ utilization of both services [22], suggesting that caregiver involvement in adolescent-focused mHealth interventions may also be effective in improving other outcomes (eg, engagement in mental health treatment). Studies show that only some, but not all, caregivers are ready for electronic messaging support for health care [23] and that depending on caregiver race (eg, Latino), socioeconomic status (eg, low), and age (eg, younger), SMS text messaging may be more or less appealing as a tool for their adolescent’s health care engagement [19,24].…”