Calling Doctor Google? Technology Adoption and Health Information Seeking among Low-income African-American Older Adults

• Main Authors: Hyunjin Seo, Joseph Erba, Mugur Geana, Crystal Lumpkins
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Florida, College of Journalism and Communications 2017-12-01
• Series: Journal of Public Interest Communications
• Subjects: underserved population; African-American older adults; technology adoption; health
• Online Access: http://journals.fcla.edu/jpic/article/view/104561

We conducted focus groups with low-income African American older adults in Kansas City, MO, to examine how this underserved group adopts and uses technology and how technology adoption/use is associated with health information seeking behavior. Low-income African American older adults have been shown to lag behind in terms of their technology access and use. Our findings show that although low-income African American older adults perceive technology to be highly useful, they do not view it as easy to use, thus preventing them from further adopting or using relevant technologies. Consequently, there is skepticism with respect to using technology to search for health information. Our study advances research on underserved groups’ technology use and health information seeking by looking at the intersectionality of race/ethnicity, age, and income.