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Race, Online Health Resources And Their Contribution To Health Disparities, Elizabeth Keck

Sociology Theses

With increasing usage of the Internet for a variety of activities, including health information seeking, there is opportunity for the technology to have a pivotal impact on reducing health disparities. Using a Fundamental Causes framework (Link and Phelan 1997), this thesis explores whether or not Internet usage for health information seeking reduces racial health disparities. Using data from the Pew Research Center this study examined active and passive health information seeking and the impact they have on health outcomes among blacks, whites, and Hispanics. The health conditions included self-rated health, high blood pressure, diabetes, lung disease, and heart disease. The …