As the term indicates, health misinformation is misinformation related to health. Themes might be viruses, food safety, nutrition and vaccinations (Bode & Vraga, 2018; Chen et al., 2018; Lazer et al., 2018; Lewandowsky et al., 2012; Oh & Lee, 2019). These  misinformation can negatively affect people’s health behaviors (Chou et al., 2018; Oh & Lee, 2019). 

Health misinformation

Coined by Gonzalez et al. (2020), health information brokering and searching is the process of bilingual family members (usually children) finding, comprehending, and translating information from online sources to help English Language Learning (ELL) relatives reach health care services, learn about health behaviors, and navigate online health content, also known as eHealth sources. 
Searching for this information requires a degree of English proficiency and education, so children use this inter-generational communication process to bridge gaps in understanding for family members.

Information Brokering and Searching

35% of Latino families rely on their mobile devices as the primary method of connecting to the internet (Gonzalez et al., 2020). This limitation further necessitates the need for strong health and digital literacy skills.

Smartphone Dependency

Inter-generational co-searching, discussion, and group decision making about health behaviors and information may strengthen family bonds, encourage co-learning between parents and children, improve problem solving skills, and increase academic attainment. 

By working together to translate important health information, the entire family is empowered to participate regardless of varying language and technical skills. Emphasizing familial involvement is especially culturally significant to Latino populations.

Pros to Framing Health Information as a Family Asset

Involving developing children in the discussion of sensitive health information, the stress of translating between languages in medical settings, understanding and explaining advanced medical jargon, and crossing child-parent boundaries into co-dependency and over-reliance can put strain on family relationships. There is potential for co-searching and inter-generational decision-making strategies to inadvertently undermine parental self-efficacy and elicit mutual frustration.


Drawbacks to Framing Health Information as a Family Asset

Not all populations have equal access to health resources. Topics in access to health information include:

•Smartphone dependency and mobile-only households

•Language Barriers

•Health Misinformation

•Information Communication Technologies (ICT)

•Online Searching and Brokering Health Information

•Transportation and Geographic Limitations

Grand Valley State University

One's identities (such as race, gender, and sexuality) can impact their health and healthcare experiences in a variety of ways. Cultural identities can influence one's likelihood to utilize health services, and how patients are treated.

Identity's Impact on Health and Health Services

An underresearched and underrepresented minority, American Indian and Alaskan Native have the highest mortality and morbidity rates out of all populations. SES constraints as well as the unique difficulty of navigating a federally centralized network of healthcare providers contribute to the prevalance of health disparities in Indiginous people. 

Health Inequity and Indigenous People (AI/AN)

Gonzalez, C., Bollinger, B., Yip, J., Pina, L., Roldan, W., & Nieto Ruiz, C. (2020). Intergenerational Online Health Information Searching and Brokering: Framing Health Literacy as a Family Asset. Health Communication, 37(4), 438–449. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2020.1847445

Intergenerational Online Health Information Searching and Brokering: Framing Health Literacy as a Family Asset

With much of research focusing on only the characteristics of either sex or gender, it neglects how gender and sex occur simultaneously and are different aspects of a person's social identity. This in return impacts their health.

Intersectionality of Sex and Gender in Women and Men's Health 

Theory that believes that individuals who are a part of non-dominant groups in society continue to experience and suffer from health disparities, even after adjusting for confounding variables, due to constant stress caused by interactions with dominant groups. LGBTQIA-POC individuals may be at a higher risk to health disparities due to this stress.

Minority Stress Theory

There is a lack of research focusing on how racism impacts Black women's utilization of reproductive healthcare services. Black women have higher rates of unplanned pregnancy, STDs, and abortion than white women. Due to these disparities, Racism needs to be studied as a possible factor exacerbating these differences.

Racism's Impact on Black Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Outcomes In Southern U.S. 

Although most legislation is not directly related to health, many laws and policies seem to have a notable effect on the health of those they implicate. 

Health consequences of laws that target/protect marginalized populations

They face harsh working conditions, social isolation, higher mortality, lack of health resources, low rates of health insurance, high poverty rates, and immigration-related concerns of deportation and being caught without documents.

Latino Migrant Farmworker Common Concerns

Immigrant and minority families with a mix of bilingual and monolingual members face unique challenges in searching for vital medical resources. To overcome cultural barriers, multilingual households use collaborative strategies to transmit the information as a family unit. 

Multilingual Families

Accessibility of Health Resources

After reading the following scenario, analyze the situation to identify at least two distinct identity-related factors that are likely contributing to the individual's reluctance to seek formal medical care. For each factor, explain how it acts as a barrier.

Analyzing Barriers to Healthcare

Read the following scenario. Analyze how the patient's personal characteristics and identity likely influenced the quality of care they received. In your analysis, identify specific moments in the interaction where the healthcare providers' assumptions may have negatively impacted the diagnostic process.

Patient-Provider Interaction Analysis

Established by Constitutional and Supreme Court precedence, the trust responsibility requires the government to provide essential health services and enact federal mandates to protect Native American and Alaskan tribes and their descenants. 

The US goverment has a moral and legal obligation to maintain government-to-government relationships with tribes and honor their expectations, but this same doctrine also limits the autonomy of tribal leaders in community decisions involving protected land.

Doctrine of Trust Responsibility

Common concerns for rural AI/AN inhabitants include distance to providers, remoteness, and lack of local specialty care, whereas urban inhabitants may be barred by travel costs and proximity from reservation land that makes them eligible to recieve care from the IHS.

While Urban and Rural AI/AN face different geographic limitations, the underlying cause for both populations' inequities can be traced back to lack of infrastructure, provider retention, and funding for the IHS, the only provider of healthcare that many individuals have access to. 

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