Eng T R, Maxfield A, Patrick K, Deering M J, Ratzan S C, Gustafson D H
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, US Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC 20201, USA.
JAMA. 1998 Oct 21;280(15):1371-5. doi: 10.1001/jama.280.15.1371.
Information and communication technologies may help reduce health disparities through their potential for promoting health, preventing disease, and supporting clinical care for all. Unfortunately, those who have preventable health problems and lack health insurance coverage are the least likely to have access to such technologies. Barriers to access include cost, geographic location, illiteracy, disability, and factors related to the capacity of people to use these technologies appropriately and effectively. A goal of universal access to health information and support is proposed to augment existing initiatives to improve the health of individuals and the public. Both public- and private-sector stakeholders, particularly government agencies and private corporations, will need to collaboratively reduce the gap between the health information "haves" and "have-nots." This will include supporting health information technology access in homes and public places, developing applications for the growing diversity of users, funding research on access-related issues, ensuring the quality of health information and support, enhancing literacy in health and technology, training health information intermediaries, and integrating the concept of universal access to health information and support into health planning processes.
信息通信技术通过其促进健康、预防疾病和支持全民临床护理的潜力，可能有助于减少健康差距。不幸的是，那些有可预防的健康问题且缺乏医疗保险覆盖的人最不可能获得此类技术。获取障碍包括成本、地理位置、文盲、残疾以及与人们适当和有效使用这些技术的能力相关的因素。提出了全民获取健康信息和支持的目标，以加强现有举措，改善个人和公众的健康状况。公共和私营部门的利益相关者，特别是政府机构和私营公司，需要共同努力缩小健康信息“有者”和“无者”之间的差距。这将包括支持家庭和公共场所的健康信息技术获取，为日益多样化的用户开发应用程序，资助与获取相关问题的研究，确保健康信息和支持的质量，提高健康和技术方面的素养，培训健康信息中介，并将全民获取健康信息和支持的概念纳入健康规划过程。
