eHealth Literacy of 2-Year and 4-Year College Students: Implications for Health Education in a Post-Truth Era

The COVID-19 pandemic and simultaneous ?infodemic? have amplified the need for electronic health (eHealth) literacy, one?s ability to find, evaluate, and apply online health information to make health decisions. To date, only a few studies have examined eHealth literacy among U.S. college students. The purpose of this study was to assess and compare the eHealth literacy of students attending 4-year and 2-year colleges in the Pacific Northwest. A purposeful sample of 781 college students enrolled in nonhealth- and health-related programs completed an electronic version of the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS). Descriptive, bivariate, and logistical regression were used in the data analyses. Results showed that while there were no significant differences in composite scores by the demographic variables explored, differences on individual eHEALS items emerged between 2-year and 4-year college students, by the first-generation status, and by gender. First-generation students? mean scores were lower in all areas of eHealth literacy when compared with non-first-generation students. Chi-square tests revealed significant differences in first-generation students? perceived ability to know how (?2 = 5.4, p = .020) and where (?2 = 6.7, p = .010) to find health resources on the internet, as well as how to tell high-quality from low-quality health resources (?2 = 5.0, p = .025). Students who identified as male were more likely than females to agree that they are ?confident in using information from the internet to make health decisions? (p = .028). Our findings underscore the need to strengthen higher education curricula and pedagogy to improve students? eHealth literacy.

Universities as Catalysts for COVID-19 Vaccination: A Call to Action.

Universities have the ability to be a strong community collaborator in mitigating the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic and ensuring that vaccination becomes a community norm. With their in-house expertise, ability to increase the reach of a message, and potential for vaccinating a large number of people, universities can be at the forefront of leading our country back to prepandemic times. This article discusses how universities can collaborate with communities to ensure mass vaccination, as well as give strategies to increase immunization rates on campus and beyond.

Digital Disenfranchisement and COVID-19: Broadband Internet Access as a Social Determinant of Health.

According to the Pew Research Center, approximately one quarter of American adults do not have access to broadband internet. This number does not account for the millions of people who are underconnected or lacking a stable internet connection. Although digital disparity in America is not new, the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic has increased our societal dependence on the internet and widened the digital divide. Access to broadband internet has become a basic need in this connected society, linking people to vital resources, such as jobs, education, health care, food, and information. However, it is still an overlooked and understudied issue in public health. In this article, we highlight five key points for why advocating for the expansion of affordable and accessible internet for all should be a priority issue for public health and health promotion. Recent studies offer evidence that digital disenfranchisement contributes to negative health outcomes, economic oppression, and racial injustice. Now more than ever, health advocacy to promote digital equity and inclusion is critical to our meaningful progress toward health equity.