In response to Dr. Calderon's post re: the www.dlife.org website:

My impression is that the initial poster was referring to the variable text
size feature (which is also now more common among national news websites
such as cnn.com (although the "text size - +" buttons are quite small), and
not the actual content on the dlife website.  I had the same initial
reaction about the materials.  I hope that more websites include variable
text coding, and make finding the options more easy!

As far as access to the internet, Pew Internet & American Life Project's
research indicates an increasing number of older Americans both with access
(dial-up and broadband) as well as use for health information (although
access for health information across the ages was approx. 20% in late
2004).  More information can be found at www.pewinternet.org/.  Additional
information specific to e-health and the "elderly" (although I don't
consider 65+ as elderly) can be found at
http://www.kff.org/entmedia/7223.cfm.

It is also important to recognize the baby boomer effect will likely follow
through with web access across topic areas, including e-health.  Current
research indicates that approximately 70-80% of 50-64 year olds have access
to and frequently (at least weekly) go online; these numbers are much
higher than the current senior citizen population, and will likely transfer
over the next decade.  Therefore, developing and implementing health
literacy and plain language, as well as mechanisms to facilitate web access
for these populations should be kept in mind.  Other things to consider for
the opposite end of the spectrum (adolescents and young adults): mobile
accessible websites.. but that's a whole different topic of discussion!

*********************************************************
Benjamin T. Wise, MS, CHES
Public Health Educator
NYS Department of Health
Bureau of Sexually Transmitted Disease Control
1168 Corning Tower, ESP
Albany, NY 12237-0670
Phone: (518) 471-3598
Fax: (518) 474-3491
e-mail: btw01 at health.state.ny.us


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