The Digital Divide in Health Education: Myth or Reality?
Abstract
Although e-health interventions provide new opportunities for health education, there has been cause for concern regarding the purported information technology gap between those who have access to digital applications and those who do not-termed the “digital divide.” The literature suggests, however, that this divide may now be illusory, driven primarily by a myriad of societal divides such as income, education, and literacy inequities. Such disparities may be the true propagators of what is now becoming a mythical digital divide. The purpose of this article is to identify the evolutionary nature of the digital divide and speculate as to how and why it has become a mirage in today’s increasingly technological world. Based on this discussion, suggestions are made regarding how health educators can enable the use of technology to better health through the study of consumer health informatics and e-health behavioral support.
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With increased growth of ICT and mobile devices to the entire population, Kenya is likely to experience escalation of eHealth solutions.
“With the increased growth of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and mobile devices to the entire population [8, 53], the country is likely to experience escalation of eHealth solutions.”
From Assessing the feasibility of eHealth and mHealth: a systematic review and analysis of initiatives implemented in Kenya (2017) · cites this paper as [53]
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- Authors
- Stellefson, M., Chaney, B., & Chaney, D.
- Affiliations
- Texas A&M University (US)
- East Carolina University (US)
- Venue
- American Journal of Health Education
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2008-03
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 106-112
- ISSN
- 1932-5037 (ISSN-L)
- 2168-3751
- OpenAlex
- W2059517758
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 2.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Journal of Health Education (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › ICT in Developing Communities
- Social Sciences › General Social Sciences › Information Society and Technology Trends
- Keywords
- digital divide, digital health interventions, health education, ICT access, socioeconomic disparities, health literacy, consumer health informatics, health disparities
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