TTUHSC researchers work to bring health education to medically underserved Lubbock residents
School of Nursing Assistant Professor Susan Andersen, Ph.D., A.P.R.N., in collaboration with experts in the Texas Tech University Computer Science and Mass Communication Departments, has created a simple, web-based kiosk computer program to educate users about health issues.
Andersen said with this project she hopes to increase health literacy among medically-underserved populations, starting with smoking awareness and cessation education.
“We definitely know that there is a need for smoking cessation education,” she said. “Smoking is one of the four most common causes of death and it can be prevented by simply not picking up a cigarette.”
The kiosk, located in the Larry Combest Community Health and Wellness Center in East Lubbock, was unveiled last year after Andersen received a two-year seed grant for cardiovascular-related research from the U.S. Health Resources and Service Administration administered through the TTUHSC Center for Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke.
Combest Center employees provide health care to a large number of low-income patients, a third of which are Hispanic. Health disparities, or unequal access to care, are a barrier to health for this population, according to Andersen’s study.
Health care seeking behavior varies between populations largely because of differences in culture, income and language.
The free smoking cessation presentations on the kiosk are written at a third-grade level and can be viewed in English and Spanish to encourage users to read and retain the information, Andersen said.
“Most smoking information is not culturally appropriate for minorities and is not written at a low enough literacy level for many patients,” she said. “That’s why we chose to do it this way. People seem to be learning from it.”
“It’s a great way of collecting data, too,” she added.
After a year of using the computerized program to gather information about demography of the clinic’s population, their smoking habits and their kiosk behaviors, Andersen has discovered that many patients at the Combest Center are smokers.
Her research shows that the rate of smoking increases with a person’s level of poverty. About 27 percent of kiosk users reported earning less than $15,000 a year and 68 percent in this income bracket identified themselves as smokers.
“That’s very high compared to the national percentage of people who smoke, which is about 25 percent,” she said.
The study also revealed that Hispanics are just as likely to use technology as non-Hispanics and people over age 50 typically will not finish the kiosk presentation.
Andersen said she hopes to eventually tailor the kiosk presentations to different age groups by adding animation and sound. These elements may keep a person’s interest longer, thus increasing the chance a person could learn from what they've read.
“Our goal is to make it more adaptable so that based on the demographics someone puts in, the program will be customized to the user,” she said.
This summer, Andersen plans to expand the programs on the health education kiosk to include health topics such as nutrition, diabetes and medication literacy.
Story produced by the Office of Communications and Marketing (806) 743-2143.
About 27 percent of health information kiosk users at the Larry Combest Community Health and Wellness Center in East Lubbock identify themselves as smokers, according to a study by School of Nursing Assistant Professor Susan Andersen, Ph.D., APRN. Nationally, about 25 percent of people smoke cigarettes.