TY  - JOUR
AU  - Drazich, Brittany F
AU  - Nyikadzino, Yeukai
AU  - Gleason, Kelly T
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/11/10
TI  - A Program to Improve Digital Access and Literacy Among Community Stakeholders: Cohort Study
JO  - JMIR Form Res
SP  - e30605
VL  - 5
IS  - 11
KW  - technology
KW  - disparities
KW  - digital access
KW  - digital literacy
KW  - community
KW  - stakeholders
KW  - digital health
KW  - digital divide
KW  - patient-centered outcomes
AB  - Background: For many research teams, the role of community stakeholders is critical. However, community stakeholders, especially those in low-income settings, are at risk of being excluded from research and community engagement initiatives during and after the COVID-19 pandemic because of the rapid transition to digital operations.  Objective: We aimed to describe the implementation and feasibility of a program called Addressing the Digital Divide to Improve Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, which was designed to address barriers to technology use, and to examine changes in participants’ perceived comfort with digital technology before and after the program.  Methods: To promote full engagement, we worked with 20 existing community leaders to cocreate a training course on using digital technology. We assessed the frequency of technology use and comfort with technology through an adapted 8-item version of the Functional Assessment of Comfort Employing Technology Scale and used the Wilcoxon signed-rank test for survey analysis. We also conducted a focus group session with 10 participants and then performed reflective journaling and content analysis to determine emergent themes.  Results: We found that the program was feasible to implement and worthwhile for participants (15/16, 94%). After the program, the participants perceived an increase in the frequency of technology use (z=2.76, P=.006). The participants reported that the program was successful because of the technology training program, but recommended that the program have a slower pace and include a helpline number that they could call with questions.  Conclusions: Future programs should consider that populations with low literacy view technology training as a core element to decreasing technology disparity. This study demonstrates that through low-cost input, community members can be provided the resources and training needed to virtually participate in research studies or community engagement initiatives.  
SN  - 2561-326X
UR  - https://formative.jmir.org/2021/11/e30605
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/30605
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34757316
DO  - 10.2196/30605
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/30605
ER  -