In health policy-making, various deliberative mechanisms can be used to engage the members of the public in exploring what might be a reasonable course of action. Scurr et al take power dynamics into consideration to analyse a deliberative dialogue involving stakeholders with diverse points of view. Given such asymmetries at play, the conclusions of deliberations could be biased.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere are still few publications that analyse the effects on migrants or ethnic minorities of COVID-19 or of measures taken to curb this pandemic, although early studies point to a greater impact on black, asian and ethnic minority populations in the UK or on migrants in Mexico. In addition to barriers to access to information and health services, we consider it a priority to focus on their living conditions, particularly those in situations of vulnerability or social exclusion. People who are unemployed or with precarious jobs, without social benefits, in overcrowded conditions, may be more at risk of infection and not receiving adequate treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSocial support is an important predictor of the health of a population. Few studies have analyzed the influence of caregivers' personal networks from a gender perspective. The aim of this study was to analyze the composition, structure, and function of informal caregiver support networks and to examine gender differences.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: This study aims to describe the information needs of urological and breast cancer patients and factors related to use of the Internet as a source of health information.
Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out, using individual questionnaire-based interviews held during the oncology appointments of 169 patients with urological cancer and 100 with breast cancer at the Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital in Granada, Spain. The variables studied were use of the Internet as a source of health information, health status, patient's role in the decision-making process, information sources, satisfaction with the health-care system, type of information received, and Internet use.
Background: People who use the Internet to research health topics do not usually find all the information they need and do not trust what they read. This study was designed to assess the reliability, accessibility, readability, and popularity of cancer Web sites in Spanish and to analyze the suitability of Web site content in accordance with the specific information needs of cancer patients.
Materials And Methods: This was a two-phase, cross-sectional, descriptive study.
This exploratory study has two aims: (1) to find out if and how social media (SM) applications are used by hospitals in Spain and (2) to assess hospital managers' perception of these applications in terms of their evaluation of them, reasons for use, success factors, and difficulties encountered during their implementation. A cross-sectional survey has been carried out using Spanish hospitals as the unit of analysis. Geographical differences in the use of SM were found.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: The aims of this study were to describe the profile of urological cancer patients who look for health information on the Internet and to analyse the factors related to use of the Internet as a source of health information.
Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study using individual, semi-structured, questionnaire-based interviews was carried out in oncology clinics in a hospital in Granada (Spain) in a sample group of 169 patients with prostate, bladder and kidney cancer. The dependent variable was use of the Internet as a source of health information.
Background: The Internet is a fundamental part of the day-to-day lives of adolescents. Faced with the difficulties of accessing conventional health services, adolescents use the Internet as a confidential and safe means of accessing information about health issues.
Objectives: To describe sex differences in the way in which adolescents search for health information on the Internet.
Background: The Internet is a fundamental part of the daily life of adolescents, they consider it as a safe and confidential source of information on health matters. The aims is to describe the experience of Spanish adolescents searching for health information on the Internet.
Methods: A cross-sectional study of 811 school-age adolescents in Granada was carried out.
Background: The development and dissemination of the Internet offers new opportunities to meet the needs of older people. To develop this potential, access to the available resources must be guaranteed. Our aims are: (1) To identify web sites in Spanish with information on healthcare for older adults and (2) to assess the accessibility of the web sites selected.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: To identify websites with information on medicines and assess, using experts, their adherence to codes of conduct and recommendations by the WHO.
Design: Cross-sectional study based on an ad hoc designed questionnaire (performed independently by 2 reviewers). The websites were identified by the Delphi technique (35 experts).
Gac Sanit
October 2007
Objectives: To assess adherence to four codes of conduct in websites providing information useful for pharmacotherapy follow-up.
Methods: We performed a descriptive study of adherence to quality criteria in 19 websites. These sites had been identified in a previous study as being those most frequently used by pharmacists.
Objectives: To design a questionnaire to evaluate compliance with quality criteria on health web sites and to analyse its reliability.
Design: A descriptive study on the reliability of a questionnaire.
Participants: Twenty web sites on health topics.