Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Baystate Health is a teaching hospital located in Springfield, MA. Our city’s population is 52% White; 22% Black; 39% Hispanic (regardless of race). Nearly 24% of our families speak Spanish at home. Poverty rates are 27%, as compared with 10% statewide. These populations are less likely to use the internet to find health information. The Dept of Health & Human Services draws a correlation between internet-based information seeking and the status of people experiencing disease, finding inverse relationships between internet use and incidence of asthma, diabetes, heart disease and other conditions. Libraries play a role in Healthy People 2020 by …