My project paper I wrote on Consumer Education concerning Health Information Technology, Wearables' and Awareness.

1. Consumer education concerning Health Information Technology, Wearables and
Awareness 1
Consumer education concerning Health Information Technology, Wearables and
Awareness
Ciara Henderson
Walden University

2. Consumer education concerning Health Information Technology, Wearables and
Awareness 2
Abstract
Consumer education concerning Health Information Technology, Wearables and
Awareness seeks to answer three questions which are: 1. What is consumer education on health
information technology (literacy)? 2. How many consumers use wearables to keep track of their
health? 3. How many consumers are aware of electronic health records? These questions will tell
how popular the growth of wearables and how health information technology has changed over
the years from the consumer standpoint.

3. Consumer education concerning Health Information Technology, Wearables and
Awareness 3
Technology has helped transformed the healthcare system throughout the years and
continues to evolve today. This transformation has affects consumer and providers, the most by
creating Electronic Medical Records, Electronic Health Records, and Personal Health Records, it
created a way for providers to share information with their patients (consumers) and other
providers which allows the consumer to learn of their health and allowed any other physician so
that patients can be treated outside of their primary physicians’ care. HIT was introduced to
reduce the amount of paper used.
According to HealthIT.gov, Health Information Technology made it possible for
healthcare providers to manage patient care through secure use and sharing of health information
and to maintain people's health information by using medical records instead of paper
(HealthIT). There is a grand amount of individuals who are unaware of what Health Information
Technology (HIT) is as there are individuals who are aware and uses wearable to keep track of
their health. Literacy plays a huge role in whether the individual understands what they are
reading. Patient engagement in their health is very important.
Consumer education on health information technology(literacy)?
The question what is consumer education on health information technology
(literacy)? Focuses on what level consumers are at and will show how important
literacy actually is. The institute of medicine defines Health Literacy as “the degree to
which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health
information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions,” (Health
Literacy). Culture and income levels plays a role in health literacy as well, individuals
who speak a different language first language have a harder time understanding the

4. Consumer education concerning Health Information Technology, Wearables and
Awareness 4
context. This creates a barrier for users when it comes to viewing electronic health
records. Minorities and immigrants are two groups of the population that are most
affected by low income and low literacy level.
Per the NAAL (National Assessment of Adult Literacy) report, there are four
performance levels: below basic, basic, intermediate, and proficient; approximately 36
percent of adults in the US have limited health literacy, 22 percent have basic and 14
percent have below basic literacy, 5 percent of the population is not literate in English
while 12 percent of the population has a proficient health literacy levels. In this report,
it showed that low literacy level among immigrants are higher than adults who spoke
another language beside English before beginning high school. It showed the
relationship between health literacy and race which reported white respondents scored
better than any other group, 9 percent of white respondents scored below basic level
while 24 of Blacks, 41 percent of Hispanics, 13 percent of Asians, 25 percent of
American Indian and Native Alaskans respondents scored below basic level (health
literacy). The report show that adults living below poverty level had lower average of
health literacy than those who lived above poverty, 30 percent of adults who received
Medicaid scored below basic while people with chronic mental or physical health who
reported their health status as poor (42 percent) and as fair (33 percent) both scored
below basic.
The study “Being an Informed Consumer of Health Information and Assessment
of Electronic Health Literacy in a National Sample of Internet Users: Validity and
Reliability of the e-HLS Instrument,” users reported they were confident in their ability

5. Consumer education concerning Health Information Technology, Wearables and
Awareness 5
to appraise quality information gathered from the internet (Yeatts, Hughes, Hudson and
Bell, 2016). This study was conducted to examine the psychometric properties of a new
electronic health literacy (e-health) measures in a national survey of internet users that
were older. This study used both women and men between the ages of 18 and 93 in
which about forty percent of the respondents had a college degree or higher and with an
income level of sixty thousand or more. The results of this survey shows the
correlation between the consumer education and income level and their ability to
understand information.
Patient engagement is important because it allows the patient (consumer) to be
responsible for that health. the article “Enabling Consumer and Patient Engagement
with Health Information” discuss how patient engagement is a powerful tool and how
consumer/patient engagement is what will help healthcare providers can improve and
support them. There are several barriers that stops full engagement are limited access to
healthcare, low health literacy, health disparities, financial disincentives in healthcare
system and limited EHR portal access.
Another finding was ways that healthcare providers can improve which were to
reach out to the community groups as a speaker on patient engagement, to create
policies and design workflow for accepting and managing patient-generated health
information, eliminate fees for providing patients with electronic copies of their health
record and many more (Washington, 2014). This article shows how important it is to
engage the consumer and shows healthcare organizations can provide better care
because of patient engagement.

6. Consumer education concerning Health Information Technology, Wearables and
Awareness 6
How many consumers use wearables to keep track of their health?
How many consumers use wearables to keep track of their health? Focus on how many
consumers actually use their wearables to keep track of their health. Accessibility plays another
role concerning consumer’s usage of wearables and technology.
The article “Research shows patients in the United States wants a heavy dose of digital,”
is about consumer survey on Patient Engagement conducted by Accenture. The findings from
this article showed that consumers are accessing their EHRs records more, this year (2016) 45
percent accessed their records compared to the 27 percent in 2014. It showed that in the past two
years the numbers of health apps have increased by 33 percent this year compared to the 16
percent in 2014. It also showed the amount of wearables used has doubled from 9 percent in
2014 to 21 percent in 2016. Accenture found that 78 percent of US consumers wear or is willing
to wear technology to track their health (Safavi & Ratliff, 2016). This information showed how
many consumers uses wearable devices to keep track of their health.
The article “How Consumers use Smartphones and wearable tech to track their health,”
was conducted by Nielsen, they created a survey to view how many users or non-users have
interest in connected life report. This article showed that almost one third of US smartphone
owners (46 million users) accessed apps in the fitness and health category. This article showed
how many consumers connect their apps with wearable devices, these findings were Fitbit has
3.3 million users, Nike+Running has 0.8 million users and Samsung S health had more than 3
million users in January before launching their smartwatch. This article showed how many
fitness band owners by age and gender. The finding in this article was that 9 percent are ages:18-
34, 40 percent are ages: 25-34, 22 percent are ages:35-44, 17 percent are ages:45-54 and 12

7. Consumer education concerning Health Information Technology, Wearables and
Awareness 7
percent are ages: 55 and up; all are fitness bands owner. Another finding is by gender showed
that 48.3 percent of fitness bands owners are male while 51.7 percent are female. this article
showed how many fitness band owners by age and gender; this information showed how many
users own wearables and uses them and how many consumers connect their apps with wearable
devices, this finding to show the popularity of wearables and the apps; this data is from an
infographic within the article (Nielsen, 2014).
How many consumers are aware of electronic health records?
The question how many consumers are aware of electronic health records? focus on who
is awareness, accessibility plays another role concerning consumers’ awareness of electronic
health records. The article “Trends in Consumer Access and Use of Electronic Health
Information,” gives an estimate of consumer access and use of electronic health information
based off a national survey that was conducted from 2012 to 2014. The findings of this article
were the amount of consumers offered online access to their medical records increased by more
than a third between 2013 (28 percent) and 2014 (38 percent). Consumers who did not use their
access were due to security concerns.
Another finding that pertinent to this question is the percent of individuals aware of their
rights to an electronic copy of their medical record and rates of online access to medical record
by level of awareness in 2014, it was found that 27 percent of consumer surveyed were unaware
of their rights while 73 percent; 21 percent were unaware of having online access to their records
while 44 percent was aware (Patel, Barker & Siminerio, 2015). The findings to show how many
consumers had access to electronic health information and was aware. Most people are unaware
of electronic health records and are unaware of their access to them. The results of this survey

8. Consumer education concerning Health Information Technology, Wearables and
Awareness 8
showed that education needs to be improved and that consumer awareness needs to be
raised.
According Patel, Barker and Siminerio most individuals used their online medical
records for monitoring health, in 2013 44 percent of users shared information with one
other person (family member, healthcare provider, someone else involved with care)
while in 2014, 33 percent shared information; the 33 percent is a total percentage of
how many individuals shared with someone else involved in their care: 3 percent in
2014 while in 2013 it was 9 percent; how many individuals shared information with
their healthcare provider: in 2014 was 11 percent while 16 percent shared in 2013; the
percentage of individuals shared information family member: in 2014 was 23 percent
while 36 shared in 2013 (2015).
There are barriers to that will hinder consumer education is the consumer's
attitude towards health information technology. Based on the study “Consumer
experience with and attitudes toward health information technology: a nationwide
survey,” a random-digital dial survey was conducted nationwide to determine if
consumers’ attitude towards EHR and HIE are associated with experiences with doctors
who uses EHRs by asking respondents four questions, one: belief that EHR would
improve quality; two: belief that EHR would improve privacy and security; three: belief
that HIE would improve quality; four: belief that HIE would improve privacy and
security.
A 1000 individuals participated in this survey out of the 1603 eligible people,
most of the respondents believed that EHR and HIE would improve healthcare quality.

9. Consumer education concerning Health Information Technology, Wearables and
Awareness 9
Those respondents who doctors used EHR believed that these technologies would
improve quality, these experiences with physicians had no association with privacy
concerns. In this survey 50 percent of the respondents were women; 28 percent were
under the age of 40; 17 percent were 65 years and older; 63 percent were employed. In
this study, it showed that 66 percent believed EHR would improve healthcare quality;50
percent believed EHR would worsen privacy and security while 18 percent believed
EHR would improve privacy and security; 79 percent of the respondents supported that
electronic HIE would improve the quality of care; 48 percent believed that HIE would
worsen privacy and security while 19 percent believed that HIE would improve privacy
and security (Ancker, Silver, Miller & Kaushal, 2013).
Ways to improve health literacy, consumer education, and awareness
Based on the report conducted by the department of health and human services
they have developed a national plan to help improve health literacy with goals through
innovative approaches. There are seven goals HHS would approve health literacy: goal
one is to develop and disseminate health and safety information that is accurate,
accessible, and actionable; goal two is to promote change within the healthcare system
that will improve health information, communication, informed decision-making, and
access to health services; goal three is to incorporate accurate, standards based and
develop appropriate health science information and curricula in child care and
education through the university level; goal four is to efforts to support and provide
local adult education, cultural and linguistically appropriate health information services
in the community; goal five is to build partnerships, develop guidance and change

10. Consumer education concerning Health Information Technology, Wearables and
Awareness 10
policies; goal six is to increase the basic research and development, implementation,
evaluation of practices, and interventions to improve health literacy, goal seven is to
increase the dissemination and use of evidence based health literacy practices and
interventions by using these approaches adopting User-Centered Design, use a universal
precautions, targeting and tailoring communication, and making organization changes
(HHS, n.d.).
Adult education workshops will help individuals strengthen the skill that they do
not currently have by doing so this give the consumer a chance to improve their literacy
level. One way to improve consumer education is to offer more education programs for
health literacy, maybe do free workshops within the community as part of an outreach
program. Develop a program that teach consumers about health information technology
and encourage consumers to adopt tools that can help them manage their conditions.
This program should test the consumers’ literacy level to better teach them. Exposing
consumers to the terminology will help them better understand the information. It is
important to engage the consumer in their healthcare to better help them manage their
condition especially those who suffer from chronic conditions such as diabetes.
Adopting User-Centered Design approach focuses on a design that includes the
consumer and allows them to participate. Using a Universal Precautions approach is
professionals following the same safety procedures for all patients as they would do for
those with an infectious disease and this approach will allow professionals to use clear
communication, use the same terminology regardless of the user's health literacy
level. Targeting and tailoring communication approach was designed to target a

11. Consumer education concerning Health Information Technology, Wearables and
Awareness 11
specific group like those with limited literacy by tailoring the information and programs
to meet the needs of the consumers. Making organization changes approach is designed
to focus on improving health literacy through self-assessment of hospitals and health
center along with assessments tool for pharmacies, auditors, pharmacy staff and
pharmacy customers; these assessment puts the responsibility on healthcare
organizations and reduces the demands on patients to be advanced with health literacy.
Consumer awareness can be improved through promotion with programs such as
Consumer Health Information Corporation(CHIC). Consumer Health Information is a
corporation offer healthcare organizations programs that will develop integrate patient
education into the messages consumers see, increase drug interaction awareness, use
customized education and information such as newsletter and pamphlets for the
organization patients and lastly, bring more awareness of when to contact their
physician and pharmacist (CHIC, n.d.).
The article “Improving health outcomes with better patient understanding and
education,” proved that health literacy impacts education interventions. This article
reviewed other studies to find out how many strategies improved the patient's
understanding and education. Individuals with lower reading levels described the text
used is program screening as intimidating and were less likely to ask question during
doctor visits. One suggestion to help patients better is a screen for patient activatio n
which would determine how much the patient is likely to understand based on how
whether they participate and their interactions, individuals who does not participate are
more than like patients with low literacy (Adams, 2010).

12. Consumer education concerning Health Information Technology, Wearables and
Awareness 12
Conclusion
In conclusion, this paper focused on three questions 1. What is consumer education on
health information technology (literacy)? 2. How many consumers use wearables to keep track of
their health?. 3. How many consumers are aware of electronic health records?. the more
consumers are aware of HIT for example, electronic health records it will help them manage
their conditions better and overall health status which is especially important for those with
chronic illnesses. Most consumers who have below basic literacy levels are minorities and
immigrants and individuals who have low income. There is a correlation between consumers’
literacy level, culture and income.
Research shows that majority of users own wearable devices and use these devices along
with their smartphones. The only way to improve consumers’ awareness is through outreach
programs for the community. So, many consumers own wearables and smartphones and
use these tow devices together to keep track of their health status. By reaching out to
the community this spreads awareness on literacy, wearables and smartphones and on
how it all can change their life. Development of workshops would help improve the
health literacy of consumers who are below basic and basic. Organization can help
improve consumers’ awareness by providing customized messages that will help
educate the consumer. To improve consumer education is to offer more education
programs for health literacy to consumer who have below basic or basic literacy levels.
By focusing on the consumers’ education, it can help improve their lives as well. Poor
understanding leads to poor self-management which leads to prolonged illnesses. It important
that consumer become engaged in their care for this purpose.

13. Consumer education concerning Health Information Technology, Wearables and
Awareness 13
References
Adams, RJ. (2010, October 4). Improving health outcomes with better patient
understanding and education. Retrieved December 7, 2016 from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3270921/
Ancker, JS., Silver, M., Miller, MC., Kaushal, R. (2013, January 1). Consumer
experience with and attitudes toward health information technology: a
nationwide survey. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.
Retrieved December 9, 2016 from
http://jamia.oxfordjournals.org/content/20/1/152.full
Consumer Health Information Corporation(CHIC). (n.d.). Retrieved on December 9,
2016 from http://www.consumer-health.com/healthcare/custom-program-
development/consumer-awareness-programs/
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). (n.d.). National Action Plan to
Improve Health Literacy. Retrieved December 9 2016 from
https://health.gov/communication/hlactionplan/pdf/Health_Literacy_Action_Plan
.pdf
Nielsen. (2014, April 16). Hacking Health: How Consumers use Smartphones and
wearable tech to track their health. Retrieved November 1, 2016 from
http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2014/hacking-health-how-
consumers-use-smartphones-and-wearable-tech-to-track-their-health.html
Patel, V., Barker, W., & Siminerio, E. (2015, October). Trends in Consumer Access and
Use of Electronic Health Information. HealthIT.gov. Retrieved November 1,

14. Consumer education concerning Health Information Technology, Wearables and
Awareness 14
2016 from http://dashboard.healthit.gov/evaluations/data-briefs/trends-consumer-
access-use-electronic-health-information.php
Safavi, K & Ratliff, R. (2016). Research shows patients in the United States wants a
heavy dose of digital. Retrieved November 1, 2016 from
https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insight-research-shows-patients-united-states-want-
heavy
Seckin, G., Yeatts, D., Hughes, S., Hudson, C. and Bell, V. (2016, July 11). Being an
Informed Consumer of Health Information and Assessment of Electronic Health
Literacy in a National Sample of Internet Users: Validity and Reliability of the e-
HLS Instrument. Retrieved November 1, 2016 from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4960406/
Washington, L. (2014, February). Enabling Consumer and Patient Engagement with
Health Information. Journal of AHIMA 85, no. 2, pp.56-59. Retrieved November
1, 2016 from http://bok.ahima.org/doc?oid=300227#.WB4y0-ErL8N