Closing the digital divide in Perú: educating people living with HIV/SIDA to evaluate the quality of health information on the internet

Authors

  • Walter H Curioso Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Lima, Perú. Department of Medical Education and Biomedical Informatics, School of Medicine, University of Washington. Seattle, Washington, USA. Médico especialista en Informática Biomédica.
  • Katiuska Castillo C Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Lima, Perú. Instituto de Medicina Tropical “Alexander von Humboldt”, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Lima, Perú. Bióloga.
  • Leslie Soto A Instituto de Medicina Tropical “Alexander von Humboldt”, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Lima, Perú. Médico Infectólogo.
  • David Iglesias Q Instituto de Medicina Tropical “Alexander von Humboldt”, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Lima, Perú. Médico Infectólogo.
  • Juan Echevarria Z Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Lima, Perú. Instituto de Medicina Tropical “Alexander von Humboldt”, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Lima, Perú. Médico Infectólogo.
  • Eduardo Gotuzzo Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Lima, Perú. Instituto de Medicina Tropical “Alexander von Humboldt”, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Lima, Perú. Médico Infectólogo.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17843/rpmesp.2007.243.1116

Keywords:

HIV, Health education, Patient education, Medical informatics, Internet

Abstract

People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) are increasingly using the Internet to find health information. Global literature about education of PLWHA regarding information and communication technologies (ICTs) is scarce. The objective of this paper is to report the evaluation of a workshop offered to PLWHA to evaluate the quality of the health information available on the Internet. A computer-based workshop was offered to 25 PLWHA from different districts of Lima during one day. A Spanish version of the eHEALS scale was used before (pre-test) and after (post-test) the workshop to assess consumer’ perceived skills/knowledge at using ICTs for health. 21 PLWHA completed the pre and post-test. At the end of the workshop, most participants (95.2%) agreed or strongly agreed that they were able to evaluate health Web sites on the Internet. A pre and post-test comparison showed significant gains in 6/8-item measure of eHEALS. The one-day workshop could help PLWHA to evaluate the quality of the information available on the Internet, and it might improve their auto-reported knowledge and skills towards the use of ICTs in health. This workshop might serve as a model to other educational programs for PLWHA.

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Published

2007-09-30

Issue

Section

Research Articles

How to Cite

1.
Curioso WH, Castillo C K, Soto A L, Iglesias Q D, Echevarria Z J, Gotuzzo E. Closing the digital divide in Perú: educating people living with HIV/SIDA to evaluate the quality of health information on the internet. Rev Peru Med Exp Salud Publica [Internet]. 2007 Sep. 30 [cited 2024 Nov. 2];24(3). Available from: https://rpmesp.ins.gob.pe/index.php/rpmesp/article/view/1116

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