“Telehealth”
Gap could be narrowing for older, poor Americans
Newswise — Despite fears
that the elderly and poor might be missing out
on health information on the Internet, a new
study shows that those most in need are bridging
the telehealth gap.
In fact, older and poor
Americans are likely to use the Internet to seek
out Medicare and Medicaid information, according
to researchers Mary Schmeida. Ph.D., and Ramona
McNeal, Ph.D.
The study appears in the
August issue of the Journal of Health Care
for the Poor and Underserved.
Schmeida and McNeal’s
findings are in contrast to earlier studies that
warned of a growing digital divide between
wealthy, Web-savvy citizens and those with lower
incomes and less Internet access.
“Some disparities are
narrowing as the elderly and poor in need of
access to public health insurance are searching
for it online,” Schmeida said.
The researchers caution,
however, that those without any Internet access
are still cut off from critical information
about Medicaid and Medicare.
In a study of state health
Web sites published in the same journal last
year, Edward Miller of Brown University and
colleagues found that many citizens are still
unable to get the information they need from
such sites.
Miller said that for
elderly users of health Web sites, “disability
access, especially things like [too-small] font
size, may be the most pertinent concern.”
The study by Schmeida and
McNeal included information from 2,928 adult
American surveyed last year for the Pew Internet
and American Life Project.
Online searches for
Medicaid and Medicare information were unrelated
to a person’s race, income or sex, the
researchers found. Rural Americans were also
avid Web surfers for health information, despite
living in places with less broadband access.
The surprising amount of
Web use by these underserved populations is “a
fact that may arise from their greater need for
service,” Schmeida said.
