Perceptions of low income HIV+ persons about finding accurate web-based health information.

AIM: To explore perceptions of low income persons living with HIV/AIDS and history of substance abuse about how they decide whether an internet site is a credible source of health-related information. BACKGROUND: It is hard for any consumer to determine whether the information that is available on the internet is trustworthy and even more challenging for consumers with low health literacy and insufficient computer literacy skills. METHODS: Mixed methods with sequential explanatory design. Electronic health literacy was measured with eHEALS and a new instrument to measure confidence in choosing a credible internet site for health-related information was developed. Qualitative data were collected during three focus groups held in high prevalence neighborhoods in New York City and after participants watched a 16-minute video produced by the United States National Library of Medicine. RESULTS: Participants had low electronic health literacy and there was no relationship between electronic health literacy and confidence in identifying a credible internet site. Six themes emerged: I haven't learned enough from the Medline video; I am not computer literate; the Internet has too many scams; the Internet piques interest in learning health-related information; prefer 1:1 interactions with trusted source for health information; and you don't have to expose HIV status to get information. CONCLUSION: Low income persons are interested in using the internet for health information but reluctant to do so due to multiple complex barriers. Follow-up interventions would include skills training in which persons are taught how to identify credible sites.

Self-compassion and risk behavior among people living with HIV/AIDS.

Sexual risk behavior and illicit drug use among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) contribute to poor health and onward transmission of HIV. The aim of this collaborative multi-site nursing research study was to explore the association between self-compassion and risk behaviors in PLWHA. As part of a larger project, nurse researchers in Canada, China, Namibia, Puerto Rico, Thailand and the US enrolled 1211 sexually active PLWHA using convenience sampling. The majority of the sample was male, middle-aged, and from the US. Illicit drug use was strongly associated with sexual risk behavior, but participants with higher self-compassion were less likely to report sexual risk behavior, even in the presence of illicit drug use. Self-compassion may be a novel area for behavioral intervention development for PLWHA.

Developing a personal health record self-efficacy tool.

The purpose of this preliminary work was to develop a new short tool to assess personal health records (PHRs) self-efficacy. Prior work had found 4 distinct skills related to creating, updating, tracking symptoms, and sharing information with health care providers using PHR. Although PHRs have great promise, their uptake has been rather limited, especially in economically limited populations. A convenience sample of community-living persons with HIV/AIDS (N = 100) was asked to complete the new tool along with other self-efficacy measures. Preliminary work indicated more confidence about paper-based PHRs compared with computer-based PHRs. The paper-based subscale was significantly correlated to chronic illness and HIV treatment self-efficacy scales as expected, but there were no relationships for the computer-based subscale. This simple screening tool could identify interested clients and their preference either for a paper-based or computer-based PHR. Further research is needed with larger sample sizes and different chronically ill populations to further explore the psychometrics of the instrument.