eHealth Literacy and Internet Interventions: New Articles from JMIR

The Journal of Medical Internet Research is frequently a good resource for material on health-related technology research. A couple of recent articles are especially noteworthy.

A paper titled, "Internet Interventions for Long-Term Conditions: Patient and Caregiver Quality Criteria," by Cicely Kerr, Elizabeth Murray, Fiona Stevenson, Charles Gore, and Irwin Nazareth (J Med Internet Res 2006 (Jul 28); 8(3):e13), explores a patient-generated analysis of an online intervention.


And, a paper titled, "eHealth Literacy: Essential Skills for Consumer Health in a Networked World," Cameron D Norman, Harvey A Skinner (J Med Internet Res 2006 (Jun 16); 8(2):e9), reviews some of the important skills necessary for evaluating health information online.

HIV Risk and Latino Gay Men: Free Web Seminar

I just got an email notice about a free web seminar with one of the leaders in the field of research on HIV risk among Latino gay men, Dr. Rafael M. Diaz. Here's the notice:


Understanding Latino Gay Men and HIV Risk: A Conversation with Dr. Rafael M Díaz

About this Web Seminar:

Latino gay men continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. Acción Mutua will host a web-based seminar to explore the contexts that put Latino gay men at risk for HIV infection/transmission. More importantly, we will discuss factors that help Latino gay men remain safe, healthy and strong and other issues around resiliency.



Who should sign up?

* Anyone working to prevent new infections/transmissions of HIV among Latino gay men and other men of color
* Anyone seeking to understand the social and cultural context of HIV risk
* Anyone who wants to explore what makes Latino gay men resilient in the face of the HIV/AIDS epidemic


Participants in this seminar will discuss:

Ø The social and cultural context of what it means to be a Latino gay man

Ø The impact of racism, homophobia, and poverty on Latino gay men

Ø How to build upon Latino gay men's individual and collective strengths



*Seminar approach:

We encourage participants to submit questions in order to make the seminar interactive and responsive to their particular concerns. Submit questions between now and the day of the seminar to accionmutua@apla.org; entitle theemail "7/25 Seminar Questions."



Details:

This web seminar is FREE. Participants will log in to the appropriate website and call a toll free number to participate in the discussion.


RSVP: Please sign up by email at accionmutua@apla.org

You will receive instructions on how to log in and what number to call after you register.


DATE: Tuesday, July 25, 2006

TIME: 2:00-3:00 pm (Eastern time)


This is a great opportunity for any one interested in knowing more about HIV risk to learn from one of the leaders in the field.

Pew Report on Bloggers

There's a new Pew Internet and American Life study out, about bloggers:


"The Pew Internet Project blogger survey finds that the American blogosphere dominated by those who use their blogs as personal journals. Most bloggers do not think of what they do as journalism. Most bloggers say they cover a lot of different topics, but when asked to choose one topic, 37% of bloggers cite “my life and experiences” as a primary topic of their blogs. Politics and government ran a very distant second with 11% of bloggers citing issues of public life as the main subject of their blog. Entertainment-related topics were the next most popular blog-type, with 7% of bloggers, followed by sports (6%), general news and current events (5%), business technology (4%), religion, spirituality or faith (2%), a specific hobby or a health problem or illness (each comprising 1% of bloggers). Other topics mentioned include opinions, volunteering, education, photography, causes and passions, and organizations."

Of interest here, is the part I put in bold above, a "specific ... health problem or illness" which makes up 1% of bloggers. An interesting juxtaposition to another finding from the Pew about the fact that health-related information is one of the most often searched for items in people's internet use. Taken together, I think this can only mean that health-related blogs are going to increase over time.

Visionary Behind Wifi in Parks

Personally, I can't wait for the wifi spots in Central Park to go live so I'm following this story closely. In this morning's NYTimes, there's a piece about Marshall Brown the visionary behind the wifi project for the city's parks, who "dreams of the wireless bubble on a grandiose scale," according to the article. I thought this quote from Brown was interesting:

“The first end of Internet expansion was about globalization, but this second phase of wireless Internet is going to be about the Internet made local.” His niche: for example, “What we’re going to enable by installing our portals in the parks is for people to get more in touch with where they happen to be.”

Brown also seems to have a desire to adddress some educational issues with this technology. The wifi hotspot just activated in Battery Park will usher users in through a portal that will offer a historical slide show, a tour of the Dutch gardens, and a video-cam hookup to the Statue of Liberty. As the article states, "In Mr. Brown’s wireless neighborhoods, connectivity is accompanied by educational content."

That's an interesting concept, providing educational content via portals at the free wifi spots. And, it seems like a great opportunity for the City Department of Health, or others interested in public health, to get out a message.

Black Gay Bloggers Protest Homophobia

Ran across this in Newsday.

"A reggae concert meant to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS is coming under fire from some black gay bloggers and activists who are incensed that the lineup includes two artists they consider to be anti-gay.

Among those scheduled to perform at the July 18 show at Webster Hall are Jamaican dancehall artists Beenie Man and the group T.O.K. Protesters have asked the concert's organizer, LIFEbeat - The Music Industry Fights AIDS, to drop them or force them to publicly denounce controversial lyrics in their songs.


'The idea that they would invite artists who encourage murdering gays and lesbians is so outrageous, insulting and unbelievable,' activist Keith Boykin said.

But concert organizers, while rejecting the anti-gay lyrics, said including the commercially successful performers in the show would allow them to reach an audience they otherwise wouldn't get to, pointing out that dancehall, a beat-driven form of Jamaican music, remains hugely popular despite controversy over its lyrical content.

John Canelli, LIFEbeat's executive director, said he felt strongly that the performers' presence would 'create dialogue around AIDS and the Caribbean-American community" and an "opportunity for groundbreaking change and good to come from it.' The artists aren't being paid, he said."

Secret Lives of Teens Online

There's been much hoo-ha (that being the technical term for it) in the old, broadcast media of late about the 'secret lives of teens online,' such as this report from a TV station in Portland, Oregon. And, has anyone watched the reports on Dateline recently? It's as if there's a producer there with a vendetta against the Internet.


And today, via Howard Rheingold, some reason has been re I learned of a newly released research from Professor Larry Rosen at UC-Dominguez Hills. Rosen finds that "only 7% of teens interviewed had ever been approached by anyone with a sexual intent and nearly all of them simply ignored the person or blocked the page." The research isn't based on a random sample (but rather a convenience sample), so it's not generalizable to all teens, or even all teens online. It's interesting, nonetheless, as a counter to the hyperbole and moral panic surrounding sexual predators online.

You can download a press release about Rosen's research here (downloads as a PDF file).

Convergence, Terrific Peer-Reviewed Journal on New Media

I just came across a wonderful journal, called Convergence, The International Journal of Research into New Media. In publication since 1995 (though I just learned of it) today, and based in the UK, full text articles are available from Hunter College library starting from 2004. (Use the "Electronic Journals" link from the main Wexler Library page, and search for Convergence.)

HIV Blogs

The magazine POZ created by, for and about the HIV+ community, has created a new and innovative approach to publishing online with its'roster HIV Blogs, including one by the Editor-in-Chief, Regan Hofmann. More and more, CEO's, editors, and other top level management-types are creating their own blogs (or, having someone else write a blog that has their name on it), and it's good to see this take off in a health-related field. However, the well-intentioned folks at POZ have made the classic public health (and beyond) blunder of not including enough voices (or, in this instance blogs) by people of color. Given the increasing impact of HIV on communities of color, and particularly women in those communities, it's shocking that of the HIV Blogs listed at POZ, only one is by a woman of color.

Resource for Peer-Reviewed Articles about e-Health Education

I ran across what looks to be a valuable resource for peer-reviewed articles about health education and technology, with an international focus. It is The International Electronic Journal of Health Education.

A bit more about the journal from their author guidelines:


"International health education and promotion including articles that focus on programs and research in countries outside the US and articles from within the US that deal with immigrant populations or international outreach activities such as study abroad programs.


Health education and promotion articles are welcome that are most effectively published using the technology available through the Internet. Examples might include reports of computerized health assessments or audio/visual intervention programs. Articles might be accompanied by computer software, PowerPoint presentations, website links or a/v streaming to demonstrate a technology based project or product. These articles may originate from any geographic location, however it will be essential for authors who submit a technology based article to demonstrate the centrality of computer or Internet technology to either the content or presentation of the article."


It's definitely worth browsing their online table of contents for the past couple of years to see if there's anything relevant to your current health / education / technology interests.

Wifi Arrives Soon in NYC Public Parks

From today's New York Times:

By the end of August, wireless networks will be established at 18 locations in 10 of New York City's most prominent parks — including Central, Prospect and Riverside Parks — in a major citywide expansion of free Internet access, according to city officials."

In my view, this is a great news for the city and for urban public health. Spreading wifi networks throughout the city's parks is a small but important step toward a framework that conceptualizes Internet access as a digital entitlement (to use Mansell's phrase) as well as an incremental move toward bridging various digital divides in the city. These impact health in a variety of ways, including but not limited to, greater access to health information that is available online. In some ways, I see the expansion of the wifi network in the city as analogous to the expansion of education in this country two centuries ago.

You can read the full article here (free registration required).

More about Podcasting and Health

Interesting presentation this evening by Iskra and Tara about podcasting and public health. I thought I'd add to the conversation with a couple of additional links.

If you're interested in creating your own podcasts, Apple provides some fairly extensive instructions on how to do it here. You can use iTunes (a free download here) to browse through a catalog of different types of podcasts.

There are also competitors to iTunes, such as Gcast, which offers free podcasting.

And, bringing this back around to health, on the Gcast site you'll notice that they're affiliated with Bono's ONE Campaign to fight HIV/AIDS. Pretty cool.

Literature Review - Deadline Extended

I sent this to everyone via Hunter email this morning, but several of these have bounced back (or been returned as undelivered for past 4 hours), so I'm posting this here. Apologies if you're just now getting word.

Several people have written to ask for extensions on the literature review. Rather than make individual exceptions, I'm extending the deadling for lit reviews until Friday, 7/7 @ 5pm. I still want hard copies (printed on paper), and would like them in my mailbox on the 10th floor ("J. Daniels" under the "Adjunct Faculty"). DO NOT, under any circumstances, slip paper copies under my door. These get thrown away by custodial staff.