HealthyTV: Using technology to create on demand health education

Low health literacy impacts nearly half of all American adults and difficulty understanding health information is especially high in seniors. HealthyTV is an innovative computer-based multimedia program coupling non-literacy health education and technology to educate seniors on diabetes. The program, created with low cost computer software, is user driven and tailored to low literacy levels. This framework was chosen after exploring a variety of modalities and vehicles for presenting material because of its potential to overcome many pitfalls of traditional learning methods that affect seniors such as difficulty reading printed materials, and hearing or seeing a presenter.

HealthyTV operates using a TV-like interface, a familiar format to many seniors. The user can navigate through the program choosing “channels” to learn about the topics they are interested in. A variety of media including videos, narrated PowerPoint presentations, interactive games, and links to internet webpages are used to relay health information in an engaging manner. Content targets diabetes management, including a personal risk assessment, an overview of the disorder, tips on how to manage medications and the importance of foot care, eye care and proper nutrition. Evaluation of the pilot program at a New Orleans senior center targets actual use and acceptability of the program as well as knowledge gained. A challenge to creating a computer based program centered on learning new computer programming skills. The possibility of tailoring this program to suit almost any population, any subject matter as well as a gamut of venues speaks to its flexibility and usefulness.