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Accessing Reliable Health Information On The Internet
Sugiyama, Nathaniel
Sugiyama, Nathaniel
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Abstract
In a low socioeconomic farming town at a rural family medicine clinic in upstate NY, I wanted to find a way to help reduce barriers to healthcare and help patients take an active role in their health using free internet resources. My idea was to help connect patients with reliable health information without needing to travel to the clinic, understanding that some patients may be limited in their ability to travel, take time off from work or afford the copays/expenses associated with seeing their providers. As such, I chose to investigate access to the internet, the ways in which users accessed the health information online, how patients liked to get their health information and their perceived barriers regarding using the internet to find reliable health information. After analyzing survey results, I found that 90% of surveyed patients had internet access, 80% had 1 or more concerns regarding the use of the internet to find reliable health information, and 46% of surveyed patients would be interested in an informational packet that that included a list of suggested electronic resources which they could use to access reliable health information, if it were available. With this information, I decided to act on my survey data and produce a 20 page pamphlet covering a broad range of health related topics from mental health, general health, and mobile health, to patient assistance programs to help patients pay for their medications.
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Date
2016-01-01