Lee, Madison Isabelle
(2023)
Analysis of Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered (FORCE)’s Digital Health Literacy Improvement Program BOAST.
Master Essay, University of Pittsburgh.
Abstract
Health literacy—typically defined as an individual's ability to access, understand, and use health information—is generally low globally, which can impede individuals from making informed health decisions and maintaining their good health. The World Health Organization has named the improvement of global health literacy as an essential factor in promoting good public health practices around the world. Digital health literacy, a facet of broader health literacy, refers to the individual’s capacity to apply the principles of health literacy to digital contexts. It works to help individuals discern if a piece of digital health-related information is reliable. Digital health literacy is also generally low in the United States. To remedy this, effective digital health literacy improvement programs can potentially help improve this literacy and better promote healthier personal behaviors that contribute to good health.
Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered (FORCE) is an organization focused on hereditary cancers that aims to improve the lives of those with cancer and their families through education, support, advocacy, and research. FORCE’s digital health literacy improvement program, titled BOAST, aims to improve people’s digital health literacy by providing participants with tools to help them evaluate if a piece of digital health-related information is reliable. This program includes a one-hour presentation that explains the “BOAST” tools, their relevance, and usage. This presentation is followed by a survey, which asks participants to provide information about how useful and confident they felt using the tools to evaluate this information, how well they remember elements of the presentation, and their demographic information. This essay analyzed the participants’ survey responses after participating in a presentation. From this analysis, findings include that most participants felt the BOAST tools were useful, they could remember them after the presentation, and they felt confident using them to discern if a piece of digital health-related information was reliable. However, many participants also reported feeling unsure if the BOAST tools were useful and they could not recall how to use them. This disparity between the responses could suggest that improvements to the language of the survey questions may help with clarity and improve BOAST’s messaging.
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| Item Type: |
Other Thesis, Dissertation, or Long Paper
(Master Essay)
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| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
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| Contributors: |
| Contribution | Contributors Name | Email | Pitt Username | ORCID  |
|---|
| Committee Chair | Feingold, Eleanor | feingold@pitt.edu | feingold | UNSPECIFIED | | Committee Member | Rezende, Lisa | lrezende@email.arizona.edu | UNSPECIFIED | UNSPECIFIED | | Committee Member | Sidani, Jaime | jaime.sidani@pitt.edu | jaime.sidani | UNSPECIFIED |
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| Date: |
16 May 2023 |
| Date Type: |
Completion |
| Number of Pages: |
46 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
School of Public Health > Human Genetics |
| Degree: |
MPH - Master of Public Health |
| Thesis Type: |
Master Essay |
| Refereed: |
No |
| Date Deposited: |
16 May 2023 19:23 |
| Last Modified: |
16 May 2023 19:23 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/44670 |
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