Bridging the Digital Divide: Feasibility of Training Community Health Advisors to Use the Internet for Health Outreach

We assessed the feasibility of "bridging the digital divide" by training community health advisors (CHAs) from low-income communities to use high-quality Internet-based health information in the context of health outreach activities to low-income, low-literacy African-American populations in the deep south of the United States. CHAs were trained how to 1) use the Internet, 2) search for health information, and 3) evaluate online health information quality. An easy-to-use graphic interface website was developed for use in training and as a resource for future CHA outreach activities. After completing training, knowledge scores uniformly increased (p < 0.05). Attitudes toward computers also improved. CHAs found the CHA website easy to use and valuable for training. After 12-months of follow-up, we found that CHAs had infrequently used the Internet in their outreach activities. Despite their improved knowledge, in focus groups, CHAs reported that limited Internet access points, and lack of portability were still barriers.