• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Susannah Fox

I help people navigate health and technology.

  • Home
  • Writing
    • greatest hits
    • beauty and wonder
    • demographics
    • featured commenters
    • health data
    • key people
    • peer-to-peer health care
    • positive patterns
    • public Q&A
    • trends & principles
  • Research
    • How Young People Use Digital Media to Manage Their Health
    • Digital Health Practices Among Teens and Young Adults: Key Findings
    • Fact sheet: teens and young adults, social media, online health resources
    • Fact sheet: differences between young women and young men in their use of social media, online health resources
    • Pew Research: Americans’ Data Worries
  • About me
    • Now
    • Curriculum vitae
  • Upcoming events

Access is (almost) everything–Susannah Fox

December 22, 2009 By Susannah Fox 1 Comment

Or: Why health geeks should pay attention to internet access geeks.

The Pew Research Center’s Hispanic Project and Internet Project just released an in-depth look at internet penetration across racial and ethnic categories in the U.S.: Latinos Online, 2006-2008

From 2006 to 2008, internet use among Latino adults rose by 10 percentage points, from 54% to 64%.  In comparison, the rates for whites rose four percentage points, and the rates for blacks rose only two percentage points during that time period.  Though Latinos continue to lag behind whites, the gap in internet use has shrunk considerably.

Most of the growth is coming from foreign-born Latinos and those living in lower-income households. Native-born and higher-income Latinos, like non-Hispanic whites, may have already reached internet saturation in 2006.

Another group that has not moved the needle since 2006: people living with chronic conditions.

My next report will focus on internet use among adults living with chronic diseases (with a special focus on diabetes, heart conditions, lung conditions, high blood pressure, and/or cancer).  The last time I took a look at this group was in 2007, when we asked a broader question to define e-patients living with a disability or chronic disease. No matter which way we slice the population, though, I can tell you that internet access is still low among people challenged by health problems. Not much has changed in two years.

The good news, however, is that once online, people living with chronic conditions get right in there — communicating with friends and family via email, looking online for health information, and upgrading to broadband at home.

So: if you believe that participatory medicine starts with participation by the patient, pay attention to internet access numbers (especially broadband and wireless figures). Participation matters, but without access, it’s a moot point.

Share this:

  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: demographics Tagged With: Access Health, Access Numbers, Baby Boomers, Chronic Conditions, chronic disease, Chronic Diseases, Communicating With Friends, diabetes, disability, Ethnic Categories, Gap, Geeks, health information, Health Problems, Heart Conditions, High Blood Pressure, Income Households, internet access, Internet Penetration, Internet Project, Internet Use, Last Time, Latino Adults, Latinos, Lung Conditions, Moot Point, Older Adults, Percentage Points, Pew Research Center, Saturation, Time Period

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Susannah Fox says

    January 4, 2010 at 12:33 pm

    Update: I just received a print copy of the USDA Economic Research Service’s report, “Broadband Internet’s Value for Rural America,” and highly recommend taking a look at it:

    http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ERR78/

    The summary is available in HTML:
    http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ERR78/ERR78_ReportSummary.html

    Otherwise it’s in PDF.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Before Footer

Don't miss a post

Enter your email address and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent Comments

  • Clay Forsberg on Caregiving is not a “career break”: “If a potential employer discounts your caregiving experience then they probably aren’t someone you want to work for. As I…” Aug 6, 15:51
  • Sherilynn on Caregiving is not a “career break”: “I agree with you that it should be part of a resume but what to do when potential employers discount…” Aug 6, 02:37
  • Susannah Fox on Too legit to quit: “Fantastic! I will follow with interest.” Aug 4, 13:25

Footer

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Topics

  • Beauty and Wonder
  • Demographics
  • Key People
  • Participatory Research
  • Peer-to-Peer Health Care
  • Positive Patterns
  • Public Q&A
  • Trends and Principles

popular posts

  • Hypothesis generator
  • Caregiving is not a “career break”
  • Credible, useful, helpful, trustworthy
  • Hack needed: Tiny pills, trembling hands

Explore

Copyright Susannah Fox © 2022 · WordPress · Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.