Spanish Content on Hospital Websites: An Analysis of U.S. Hospitals’ in Concentrated Latino Communities

• In Event: Scholar to Scholar VI
  In Scholar to Scholar Session: Serving and understanding patients better through interpersonal and mediated communication

Abstract

Hospital websites are a format for e-health. An analysis of 121 U.S. hospital websites shows that only 9.9% of hospitals located in areas with high Hispanic populations have a Spanish language website reflecting its English counterpart, while 44% of hospital websites have no Spanish content. Moreover, 71% of websites lacked a cultural diversity statement. Hispanics’ uses of the Internet, the digital divide and e-health provide a background for discussion of the findings.

Authors

• Linda Gallant, Emerson College

• Cynthia Irizarry, Suffolk University

• Gloria Boone, Suffolk University

• Brenna Ruiz-Gordon, Emerson College