Literacy, access to information, and social power – 1848 and 2008

At the core of all public health programs is the development and dissemination of information. The target audience can use public health information only if it has effective access the medium that provides the information. How, then, does the economically and socially disadvantaged target audience receive, understand, and use health information? How has this changed over time as new technologies were introduced? What are and have been the barriers and facilitators to information access, and how are they related to social power? This session presents a brief overview of major information dissemination technologies – print and electronic – and global impacts on information dissemination, the associated social power, and the barriers that arose to restrict access to each. The focus is on health information and the historical progress of literacy, access to information, and social power. Factors that have inhibited or facilitated effective access to health information are presented, such as the effects of mobility and isolation on minority groups' access to information and social power. The historical trends and current roles of public health in removing barriers and facilitating the flow of information are presented. Some of the barriers within public health information development and dissemination are discussed. The session concludes with an interactive discussion of ways to make public health information more accessible to disadvantaged populations.