Modeling Access Across the Digital Divide for Intersectional Groups Seeking Web-Based Health Information: National Survey.

BACKGROUND: The digital divide refers to technological disparities based on demographic characteristics (eg, race and ethnicity). Lack of physical access to the internet inhibits online health information seeking (OHIS) and exacerbates health disparities. Research on the digital divide examines where and how people access the internet, whereas research on OHIS investigates how intersectional identities influence OHIS. We combine these perspectives to explicate how unique context-device access pairings operate differently across intersectional identities-particularly racial and ethnic groups-in the domain of OHIS. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine how different types of internet access relate to OHIS for different racial and ethnic groups. We investigate relationships among predisposing characteristics (ie, age, sex, education, and income), internet access (home computer, public computer, work computer, and mobile), health needs, and OHIS. METHODS: Analysis was conducted using data from the 2019 Health Information National Trends Survey. Our theoretical model of OHIS explicates the roles of internet access and health needs for racial and ethnic minority groups' OHIS. Participant responses were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Three separate group structural equation modeling models were specified based on Black, Latine, and White self-categorizations. RESULTS: Overall, predisposing characteristics (ie, age, sex, education, and income) were associated with internet access, health needs, and OHIS; internet access was associated with OHIS; and health needs were associated with OHIS. Home computer and mobile access were most consistently associated with OHIS. Several notable linkages between predisposing characteristics and internet access differed for Black and Latine individuals. Older racial and ethnic minorities tended to access the internet on home and public computers less frequently; home computer access was a stronger predictor of OHIS for White individuals, and mobile access was a stronger predictor of OHIS for non-White individuals. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings necessitate a deeper unpacking of how physical internet access, the foundational and multifaceted level of the digital divide, affects specific racial and ethnic groups and their OHIS. We not only find support for prior work on the digital divide but also surface new insights, including distinct impacts of context-device access pairings for OHIS and several relationships that differ between racial and ethnic groups. As such, we propose interventions with an intersectional approach to access to ameliorate the impact of the digital divide.

Uses and Gratifications of Music in Bereavement: A Qualitative Inquiry.

This study investigates the role of music during bereavement. Music plays a role in peoples' bereavement experiences and gets associated with numerous memories. Despite widespread recognition of the importance of music, little research has considered what bereaved individuals "gain" through their musical selections. This study takes a uses and gratifications approach to analyze interview data about how bereaved individuals incorporate music in their grief journey. Interviews were conducted with 28 participants. Two coders analyzed the data to identify common themes regarding uses of music during bereavement. Data show 5 reasons the bereaved offer for using music: creating connections, co-presence, positive and negative mood management, and projection. The findings demonstrate everyday ways that individuals process their grief in a way that has been largely ignored in the bereavement literature and offer insight into the ways that music can be strategically used by laypeople to process grief.

Social TV viewing during the COVID-19 lockdown: The mediating role of social presence.

The COVID-19 lockdown has transformed the way of life for many people. One key change is media intake, as many individuals reported an increase in media consumption during the COVID-19 lockdown. Specifically, social media and television usage increased. In this regard, the present study examines social TV viewing, the simultaneous use of watching TV while communicating with others about the TV content on various communication technologies, during the COVID-19 lockdown. An online survey was conducted to collect data from college students in the United States during the COVID-19 lockdown. Primary results indicate that different motives predict different uses of communication platforms for social TV engagement, such as public platforms, text-based private platforms, and video-based private platforms. Specifically, the social motive significantly predicts social TV engagement on most of the platforms. Further, the study finds that social presence of virtual co-viewers mediates the relationship between social TV engagement and social TV enjoyment. Overall, the study's findings provide a meaningful understanding of social TV viewing when physical social gatherings are restricted.

Direct prostacyclin transition in pediatric patients with pulmonary hypertension.

Pediatric patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) are commonly treated with the prostacyclin analog treprostinil in IV, SQ, inhaled or oral form, or the prostacyclin receptor agonist selexipag. Patients who transition between these medications often follow recommendations for gradual up- and down-titrations that take place over several days in the hospital or several weeks as an outpatient. However, hospital resources are limited, and long transitions are inconvenient for patients and families. We report a case series of eight pediatric patients with PAH transitioned directly between prostacyclins with no overlapping doses. Direct medication transitions occurred in the cardiac intensive care unit (CICU), at home and in cardiology clinic. Equivalent doses for selexipag were estimated using information extrapolated from experience, published materials and selexipag study guidelines. All patients completed direct transition as planned and remained on transition dose for at least 1 week. In most cases selexipag was up-titrated at home after establishing initial transition dose. In select patients, direct prostacyclin transition in pediatric patients with PAH is safe, effective, convenient for families and reduces the use of hospital resources.

Correction: Using Serious Games for Antismoking Health Campaigns: Experimental Study.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.2196/18528.].

Using Serious Games for Antismoking Health Campaigns: Experimental Study.

BACKGROUND: Serious games for health have been gaining in popularity among scholars and practitioners. However, there remain a few questions to be addressed. OBJECTIVE: This study tests the effects of a serious game and fear appeals on smoking-related outcomes. More specifically, this research aims to understand how serious games function as a more effective vehicle for a health campaign than a traditional medium, such as a print-based pamphlet. Further, while serious games utilize a variety of persuasive strategies in the game's content, it is not clear whether fear appeals, which are widely used persuasive-message strategies for health, can be an effective strategy in serious games. Thus, we are testing the effect of fear appeals in a serious game. METHODS: We created a computer game and a print brochure to educate participants about the risks of smoking. More specifically, a flash-based single-player game was developed in which players were asked to avoid cigarettes in the gameplay context. We also developed an online brochure based on existing smoking-related brochures at a university health center; antismoking messages on the computer game and in the brochure were comparable. Then, an experiment using a 2 (media type: game vs. print) x 2 (fearful image: fear vs. no-fear) between-subjects design was conducted. The study recruitment was announced to undergraduate students enrolled in a large, public Midwestern university in the United States. After a screening test, a total of 72 smokers, who reported smoking in the past 30 days, participated in the experiment. RESULTS: Overall, gameplay, when compared to print-based pamphlets, had greater impacts on attitudes toward smoking and the intention to quit smoking. Further, the game's persuasive effects were especially pronounced when messages contained fear appeals. When fearful images were presented, participants in the game condition reported significantly more negative attitudes toward social smoking than those in the print condition [F(1,67)=7.28; P=.009; ηp2=0.10]. However, in the no-fear condition, there was no significant difference between the conditions [F(1,67)=0.25; P=.620]. Similarly, the intention to quit smoking [F(1,67)=4.64; P=.035; ηp2=0.07] and susceptibility [F(1,67)=6.92; P=.011; ηp2=0.09] were also significantly different between the conditions, but only when fear appeals were used. CONCLUSIONS: This study extends fear appeal research by investigating the effects of different media types. It offers empirical evidence that a serious game can be an effective vehicle for fear appeals.