Electronic health literacy of older Hispanics with diabetes

Abstract

Although the internet increases the availability of diabetes-related health information, health care consumers need to have different skills in order to obtain, interpret and evaluate such information. The eHealth literacy scale (eHEALS) was originally developed to assess consumers' perceived skills at using information technology for health. The objective of this study was to explore the experiences of older Hispanics' with type 2 diabetes in using the internet for diabetes management. This study was conducted in the USA among a convenience sample of older Hispanics with type 2 diabetes (n = 20) who attended a senior center in East Harlem, New York City. All participants first completed eHEALS and a demographic, diabetes-related, and smart phone use form either in English or Spanish and then participated in a focus group. Descriptive statistics and a univariate exploratory analysis were conducted to determine differences in electronic health literacy based on age or gender. In addition, qualitative data from the focus groups were analyzed. No significant differences were found based on age (F = 0.76, p = 0.66), but a t-test found significant differences based on gender (t = -2.67, df = 18, p = 0.015). During the qualitative data analysis, five themes were identified from the focus group responses. Although the participants had access to the internet, they were not using the technology to access diabetes-related health information. Given the small sample size in this study, the Spanish version of the instrument needs to be used in a larger sample and further psychometric testing.

Media Health Literacy, eHealth Literacy, and the Role of the Social Environment in Context

“…Similarly, in a sample of elderly living with chronic disease, participants reported the Internet as a useful information source on their condition. Still, they often relied on the help of relatives and friends when assessing the information [44]. A similar strategy has been observed for Hispanic breast cancer survivors in the United States; managing online health information in their case was a responsibility they consistently shared with their offline social networks [45].…”

Validating an electronic health literacy scale in an older hispanic population

“…A third search using the keywords, electronic health literacy and Spanish , yielded 33 articles. Of those articles, only one article was on electronic health literacy among English and Spanish language speakers (Aponte & Nokes ), four were literature reviews, and the other studies were on health literacy which either were among Spanish‐speaking Hispanics or included that population. Four hundred and twenty‐seven million people from 31 different countries speak Spanish (Lewis et al .…”

“…), Dutch (van der Vaart et al . ) and Spanish (Aponte & Nokes ). The Spanish version validation work supported the use of the instrument with that population and the research reported in this article extends that work.…”

“…Because the Spanish language is widely spoken in much of the world, a valid and reliable Spanish language translation of a widely used instrument is needed to screen for electronic health literacy. The purpose of this study was to continue to examine the validity of the Spanish version of the eHEALS (Aponte & Nokes ) with an older Hispanic population by comparing responses on eHEALS with Internet‐related subscales created using the HINTS survey.…”

Media Health Literacy, eHealth Literacy, and the Role of the Social Environment in Context

“…Similarly, in a sample of elderly living with chronic disease, participants reported the Internet as a useful information source about their condition. Still, they often relied on the assistance of relatives and friends when assessing the information [42]. A similar strategy has been observed for Hispanic breast cancer survivors in the United States; managing online health information in their case was a responsibility they consistently shared with their offline social networks [43].…”