Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Health Informatics Journal
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Solomons, R. E. B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Solomons, R. E. B.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Assisted Internet Access for Patients in a General Practitioner Surgery: Helping the Information Poor

Richard E. B. Solomons

Ling House Medical Centre, RSolomons{at}aol.com

The elderly and the poor do not readily access health information on the internet, `the digital divide'. The objective of this questionnaire based study in a socially deprived area was to establish the demand for Internet access in a general practitioner surgery (with a helper available), and to determine the relationship of that demand and actual use to previous experience.

The influence of a general practitioner's encouragement and reasons for nonuse of the service were investigated.

Overall 63%(151/239) were initially interested in accessing the Internet, and of these 92% (139/151) required help. Only 1.8% (3/167) of patients without previous experience of the Internet, `the information poor' actually used the Internet with assistance. 6.9% (5/72) of those with previous experience used it and they were also much more likely 77.7%(56/72) v.s 22.7% (38/167),to wish to do so in the future. 75% (11/14) of patients did not follow a general practitioner's recommendation to use the Internet. The predominant reasons for non-use were lack of time and home Internet access. Patients unfamiliar with the Internet, `the information poor', were unlikely to use the Internet even with assistance.

Key Words: Elderly • information • Internet • poor

Health Informatics Journal, Vol. 9, No. 3, 199-206 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/14604582030093006
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?