PROJECT OVERVIEW

Today, computer networks, coupled with peer production and public collaboration, play an important role in the formulation and dissemination of knowledge. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT’s), paired with the rise of a more open, less centralized model of development, yields a powerful influence. They can be viewed as tools to facilitate empowerment and the realization of human rights by creating economic, educational, social, and political opportunities across borders. They carry deep implications for a variety of developmental issues including health communication and education.

The core of my research project will examine whether certain ICT’s can help reduce the spread and prevalence of infectious diseases by increasing overall health consciousness and control.  Specifically, I seek to weigh the pros and cons of interactive web technology on health communication and education via measurement of its positive and/or negative repercussions.

RESEARCH QUESTION

What is the impact of interactive web technology (i.e., online question and answer forums, discussion groups, and chat rooms as well as informational websites, databases, etc.) on the awareness and prevention of disease in a given population?

KEY DEFINITIONS/ ASSUMPTIONS

I will define interactive web technology as the means by which an individual connects with or through an electronic computing device to access or transmit health information, or to receive or provide guidance and support on a health-related issue. This type of communication can relay health information on demand, facilitate informed decision making, promote healthy behaviors, encourage peer-based data exchange and emotional support, and enable patient self-care. However, these interactive technologies also harness the potential to cause harm. Erroneous applications may lead to misdiagnosis, direct people to inappropriate treatment, and cause them to delay seeking professional care in dangerous, potentially fatal circumstances. Consequently, patients may come to rely more on these technologies than their own physicians, which may foster distrust and conflict in the physician-patient relationship.

METHODOLOGY

My methods of investigation will include an exhaustive literature review and an experimental group of Los Angeles County high school students (from the most impoverished, under-funded school districts; this will help simulate the conditions of a poor infrastructure). The first group of teenagers will be supplied with non-interactive, closed-source health information on several infectious illnesses, while the second group will be exposed to interactive web technology expounding upon the same illnesses. Still, the third group will not have access to any form of computer technology, but will only be given a pamphlet on the control and prevention of the infectious diseases. The students will then be given a questionnaire to assess their knowledge retention and factual accuracy of the health principles discussed as well as to evaluate their feelings, habits, and attitudes.

HYPOTHESIS

I hypothesize that interactive web technology has an overall beneficial effect on health communication and education.