Journal of medical Internet research
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J. Med. Internet Res. · Jan 2011
Internet use and eHealth literacy of low-income parents whose children have special health care needs.
The Internet has revolutionized the way in which many Americans search for health care information. Unfortunately, being able to use the Internet for this purpose is predicated on having access to the Internet and being able to understand and comprehend online health information. This is especially important for parents of children with special health care needs who are forced to make many medical decisions throughout the lives of their children. Yet, no information is available about this vulnerable group. ⋯ Low-income parents of children with special health care needs have access to and use the Internet as a source of information about their children's health. However, some parents are unable to distinguish between high and low quality information and are not confident in using the Internet. This information is timely because as the pressure to use the Internet to empower consumers and exchange information increases, issues related to access and disparities must be better understood.
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J. Med. Internet Res. · Jan 2011
A pilot study of motivational interviewing training in a virtual world.
Motivational interviewing (MI) is an evidence-based, patient-centered counseling strategy proven to support patients seeking health behavior change. Yet the time and travel commitment for MI training is often a barrier to the adoption of MI by health care professionals. Virtual worlds such as Second Life (SL) are rapidly becoming part of the educational technology landscape and offer not only the potential to improve access to MI training but also to deepen the MI training experience through the use of immersive online environments. Despite SL's potential for medical education applications, little work is published studying its use for this purpose and still less is known of educational outcomes for physician training in MI using a virtual-world platform. ⋯ The results of this pilot study suggest that virtual worlds offer the potential for a new medical education pedagogy that will enhance learning outcomes for patient-centered communication skills training.