"Health Information Accessibility and Availability and Its Impact on the Health Literacy of Hispanics"
Jennifer StoneJennifer Stone graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2010 with a double major in Biology and Spanish. She is currently working as an associate research specialist in the Pathology Unit at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center with the plan of applying to Medical School in the future. This research project was done as part of an English Composition course taught by Rebecca Lorimer who also advised Jennifer throughout the course of the project.
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MethodsBetween March 22nd, 2010, and April 7th, 2010, a variety of pharmacies and hospitals were visited in a mid-sized, Midwestern city with a predominantly white, middle-class population. These pharmacies and hospitals were surveyed for the number, language, content, accessibility, and utility of the health information that they had available. For the purposes of this study, the term “health information” was defined as written materials meant to educate or inform people about their health and wellness. These could include pamphlets, articles, brochures or any other type of written material about topics such as diseases, physical or emotion problems, dieting, lifestyle choices, and other related topics. The city in which the survey was conducted, with an estimated total population of 218,915, is estimated to have a Hispanic population of 12,649 (U.S. Census Bureau Detailed Table, 2008). For the purposes of this study, the term “Hispanic” was used to describe people who are of “Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race” (United States Office of Management and Budget, 1977). This term follows the usage by both government and academic sources examined in this study. The locations visited were Walgreens Pharmacy, UW Hospital, Meriter Hospital, and Neuhauser Pharmacy. These pharmacies and hospitals were chosen as they are generally representative of healthcare facilities in the area. Hospitals and pharmacies, in general, are where many patient-healthcare interactions occur and therefore where one would expect to find health information. When attempting to locate health information, hospital and pharmacy employees were asked a variation of the question, “Where would I find health information such as brochures or pamphlets about diseases such as diabetes or asthma?” If this was still not clear, more detailed information was given about the study and the type of written health materials that were being surveyed. The corresponding websites for these locations were also visited and surveyed for the same type of information as well. Remembering frequently seeing health information pamphlets at pharmacies in the past, the researcher first decided to visit Walgreens pharmacies (one in a middle class family neighborhood and the other in a diverse working class neighborhood with a sizeable Latino population). After not finding many printed materials at the Walgreens, the UW Hospital was then visited because of its size and the researcher’s familiarity with it. Once again, the researcher left with few materials and decided to call the locations and look on their websites before visiting them to ascertain the location of health information kiosks and pamphlets. The researcher then called the UW Hospital and learned about the presence of a Learning Center at the hospital. The UW Hospital’s website was then visited to find its location and hours, and the Learning Center was visited and surveyed. The researcher then visited Meriter Hosptial’s website and discovered that they had a Consumer Health and Medical Library. The library was contacted via phone about the health information they had available prior to a visit in person. After learning how the health information was distributed there, the location was not visited in person. Information gathered from the librarian at Meriter Hospital as well as the lack of printed materials available at most locations also led the researcher to decide to survey the health information available at the corresponding websites for the visited healthcare providers. Finally, the researcher called Neuhauser Pharmacy (a small, family-owned pharmacy) to ask about the health information materials they had available prior to visiting it.
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