Reed Elisabeth C, Nusrat Nowrin, Andres Lilibeth, Connaughton-Espino Tania, Rivera Natalie D, Moore Modjulie A, Robles Arvizu Jose A, LePrevost Catherine E, Lee Joseph G L
Department of Implementation Science, Division of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States.
Department of Applied Ecology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States.
J Immigr Minor Health. 2025 Aug 26. doi: 10.1007/s10903-025-01767-x.
Digital health services can facilitate patients' access to healthcare. However, access to reliable internet and utilization of digital healthcare are patterned by race, ethnicity, and class in the United States. We assessed willingness, use, and challenges accessing digital healthcare platforms among farmworkers arriving in North Carolina on temporary H-2A work visas (n = 327). We fielded a survey on digital healthcare access in English and Spanish at a central arrival hub for H-2A visa holders in 2024. We calculated descriptive statistics and assessed associations between willingness to use and uptake of digital healthcare and demographic variables. Most participants were interested in utilizing telehealth and patient portals, but few had ever used these services. Among participants who had used telehealth, 50% reported needing assistance. Older participants were less likely to utilize patient portals than younger participants. Future interventions should consider the unique context of migrant farmworkers in building digital health service models and provide digital skills training.
数字健康服务可以促进患者获得医疗保健。然而，在美国，可靠互联网的接入以及数字医疗保健的使用情况因种族、族裔和阶层而异。我们评估了持临时H-2A工作签证抵达北卡罗来纳州的农场工人（n = 327）使用数字医疗保健平台的意愿、使用情况和面临的挑战。2024年，我们在一个H-2A签证持有者的中央入境枢纽用英语和西班牙语进行了一项关于数字医疗保健接入的调查。我们计算了描述性统计数据，并评估了使用数字医疗保健的意愿和使用情况与人口统计学变量之间的关联。大多数参与者对使用远程医疗和患者门户网站感兴趣，但很少有人使用过这些服务。在使用过远程医疗的参与者中，50%的人表示需要帮助。年龄较大的参与者比年轻参与者使用患者门户网站的可能性更小。未来的干预措施在构建数字健康服务模式时应考虑移民农场工人的独特背景，并提供数字技能培训。
