247454 Chinese Community eHealth Day as a venue to introduce in-language health information and Technology trends among the older (50+) Chinese immigrant population

Monday, October 31, 2011

Angela Sun, PhD, MPH , Chinese Community Health Resource Center, San Francisco, CA
Joyce Chen, MS , Chinese Community Health Resource Center, San Francisco, CA
Joanne Chan, BA , Chinese Community Health Resource Center, San Francisco, CA
Edward Chow, MD , Medical Director, Chinese Community Health Plan, Executive Director, Chinese Community Health Care Association, San Francisco, CA
As minority populations have recognized Internet as an accessible source for health information, Chinese community lags in this area. Although Asian Americans have high rates of Internet access (82%) among all US ethnic groups, access does not translate to usage among Chinese immigrants who are 50 and older. This program was specifically tailored for older Chinese immigrants with these objectives: (1) Promote national technology trends in health information delivery (2) Teach basic computer, Internet, and mobile message skills, enabling access to online health information (3) Increase community awareness of credible online in-language health information (4) Increase access of available in-language health information (5) Involve youth to bridge the generation gap. Chinese Community Health Resource Center (CCHRC) held an eHealth Day to bridge the technology divide for older Chinese immigrants. Seminars covered basic technological skills, eHealth trends, and accessing credible online health information. Youth volunteers provided individual computer and mobile skill instruction to encourage learning and bridge generation gap. eHealth Day drew 600 participants and 60 youth volunteers from SF Bay Area, 69% of participants completed program evaluations (n=414). Responses indicated interest to increase knowledge regarding eHealth (77%), in-language online health information (71.3%), and access to online health resources (56.5%). Results demonstrated skills gained in computer (75.2%), Internet (78.3%) and mobile text usage (23.7%) as well as awareness of credible online, in-language health information (35.1%). Promoting health through technology can be a venue to bridge the digital gap among older (50+) Chinese immigrants and adapted for other ethnic groups.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Program planning
Public health or related education

Learning Objectives:
At the end of this session, participants will 1) Describe factors attributed to lack of awareness of eHealth trends among Asian communities 2) Articulate effective strategies of increasing access and knowledge of national technology trends and health information for this population. 3) Adapt similar educational programs to other targeted populations.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to present because I oversee programs such as disease prevention, health education, research, nutrition counseling, and social and referral services.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.