Decreasing Health Disparities through Technology: Building a Community Health Website

Abstract

The mission of participatory health communication is to collaborate with communities to provide new information about health knowledge, access to care, and the health needs specific to a community. We present the development of the Community Health Website for communities affected by health disparities in the Southwest United States. The internet is used to effectively engage populations that have been traditionally thought of as unreachable through community-based and culturally-centered research approaches. Specifically, we offer suggestions in working to solve public health problems of underserved communities in the Southwest through web-based health education, interactive kiosks, outreach and participation.