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Medicare News
Senior Citizens Turning to Internet for Medicare,
Medicaid Information
'Telehealth' gap could be narrowing for older,
poorer Americans
Aug. 3, 2007 - Despite fears that the elderly and
poor might be missing out on health information on the Internet, a new
study shows that those most in need are bridging the telehealth gap. In
fact, older and poor Americans are likely to use the Internet to seek
out Medicare and Medicaid information, according to researchers Mary
Schmeida. Ph.D., and Ramona McNeal, Ph.D.
The study appears in the August issue of the
Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved.
Schmeida and McNeals findings are in contrast to
earlier studies that warned of a growing digital divide between wealthy,
Web-savvy citizens and those with lower incomes and less Internet
access.
Some disparities are narrowing as the elderly and
poor in need of access to public health insurance are searching for it
online, Schmeida said.
The researchers caution, however, that those
without any Internet access are still cut off from critical information
about Medicaid and Medicare.
In a study of state health Web sites published in
the same journal last year, Edward Miller of Brown University and
colleagues found that many citizens are still unable to get the
information they need from such sites.
Miller said that for elderly users of health Web
sites, disability access, especially things like [too-small] font size,
may be the most pertinent concern.
The study by Schmeida and McNeal included
information from 2,928 adult American surveyed last year for the Pew
Internet and American Life Project.
Online searches for Medicaid and Medicare
information were unrelated to a persons race, income or sex, the
researchers found. Rural Americans were also avid Web surfers for health
information, despite living in places with less broadband access.
The surprising amount of Web use by these
underserved populations is a fact that may arise from their greater
need for service, Schmeida said.
Schmeida M, McNeal R. The telehealth divide:
disparities in searching public health information online. Journal of
Health Care for the Poor and Underserved 18(3), 2007.
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