Missed Opportunity? Leveraging Mobile Technology to Reduce Racial Health Disparities

Abstract

Blacks and Latinos are less likely than whites to access health insurance and utilize health care. One way to overcome some of these racial barriers to health equity may be through advances in technology that allow people to access and utilize health care in innovative ways. Yet, little research has focused on whether the racial gap that exists for health care utilization also exists for accessing health information online and through mobile technologies. Using data from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), we examine racial differences in obtaining health information online via mobile devices. We find that blacks and Latinos are more likely to trust online newspapers to get health information than whites. Minorities who have access to a mobile device are more likely to rely on the Internet for health information in a time of strong need. Federally insured individuals who are connected to mobile devices have the highest probability of reliance on the Internet as a go-to source of health information. We conclude by discussing the importance of mobile technologies for health policy, particularly related to developing health literacy, improving health outcomes, and contributing to reducing health disparities by race and health insurance status.

Correlates of health information seeking between adults diagnosed with and without cancer

“…Doctors and health care providers who understand their patients’ likely preferred source of information, based on their cancer status, can devote their limited time and resources to providing information that patients will likely pay attention to and utilize. On the other hand, in a study on the general population that also used the HINTS, researchers found that the Internet—via mobile technology—as a preferred source of information influenced the use of and reliance on online health information [ 73 ]. If patients are provided information in their preferred source, they may be more likely to feel empowered, participate in treatment decisions, and practice good health and self-care behaviors.…”

Improving Cardiovascular Health Among African-Americans Through Mobile Health: the FAITH! App Pilot Study

“…1 Mobile health (mHealth) interventions are promising for promoting CV health within this population. 2 Culturally relevant health interventions delivered through community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches have proven successful in substantially impacting specific CV risk factors (e.g., hypertension) in AAs. 3 However, to our knowledge, our study is the first mHealth intervention targeting multiple risk factors by promoting ideal CV health (LS7) for AAs.…”

Health informatics: tres temas clave y contexto académico-profesional

“…Una manera de superar las barreras a la equidad puede ser utilizar la tecnología de manera que esta permita el acceso al cuidado de la salud de forma innovadora. Disponer de móvil es importante para el acceso a información sobre salud por parte de colectivos desfavorecidos, como se muestra en algunos estudios de caso recientes sobre enfermos crónicos (Ray et al, 2017). Estas experiencias muestran como la tecnología móvil puede contribuir en la evolución de la alfabetización en salud, mejorar los resultados de salud, y reducir desigualdades debidas a factores socioeconómicos.…”