Going virtual: Internet-based health promotion interventions for women with disabilities

The Internet holds great promise for increasing women with disabilities' access to disability- and gender-specific health promotion information as well as new opportunities to expand their social network. The Center for Research on Women with Disabilities is currently testing Internet-based interventions to improve health promoting behaviors, health outcomes, and self-esteem among women with disabilities using the principles of serious games. In developing this new area of research, the first step is to understand Internet usage patterns in this underserved population. Method: Women (N=278) aging with physical disabilities recruited through 12 independent living centers across the US completed written surveys. Sample: Ages ranged from 45-87 years (Mean = 58.9, SD = 9.30); 29% had minority backgrounds; 31% lived in rural areas; 67% had postsecondary education yet 81% were unemployed; the median annual household income was $14,520. More than two-thirds had no intimate relationship. Results: Despite these disadvantaged demographic characteristics, 63% used the Internet at least six hours weekly and 29% more than 20 hours, predominantly for e-mail and information search. Internet users were more likely to be younger, have more years of education, be employed, and have higher household incomes than women who had never used the Internet. Logistic regression analyses using these four variables indicated that only educational level contributed significant unique variance. Conclusion: Contrary to estimates of significantly less Internet use among people with disabilities, we found that middle-aged and older women with physical disabilities use the Internet on par with women in the general population.