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Showing posts from March, 2018

Computer Literacy Basics

This post is going to be a quick break down of important computer literacy components.  First things first: What is the internet? The internet is a digital network of information that can be used for anyone with access. You gain access to the internet through internet providers. There are 2 types of access. Wired and wireless. Most of the connections to the internet you will see is wireless. This means that you have no cords going from your computer or your phone to your modem (more on modems later). Think of it like when telephones used to have those long springy cords that hooked into the phone jack. That's a wired connection. And think of your cordless phone or a cellphone. This is a similar idea to wireless internet. A modem is the tall box that sits in a corner with flashing lights on it. Most modems still use a cord to connect to the wall. You can connect your computer to the modem with a cable called an Ethernet cable. This allows you to have a wired connection to th...

All About Your Health Records

In our modern day we have an extra effort to push to digitize everything. We digitize our photographs, movies, books. We even have digitized health records. When you go to visit a doctor or you have a procedure done in the hospital there will be an electronic version of what happened while you were there The greatest benefit to you as a patient is being able to access and maintain these records as well. You can use a patient portal and call up your records from the hospital stay or doctor's visit. Not only does this provide the patient with an accurate account of everything that happened but it empowers patients to be in charge of their information. The information is about you. You should be able to go in and look at it. You can order prescriptions or make an appointments online. Making sure where you access the information from is very important. You don't want to sign in  credentials to a fake account. Making sure you are on the right page is important. Look at...

Virtual Support Groups

The internet has brought about many amazing features for people all around the world. One of those features is online support groups. These support groups can vary from actual online meetings or chat forums where people can share their hardships and find those suffering from the same thing. The support can be for the person suffering from disease or hardship. Or the support group can be for the parent or family that has to see the person through the disease or hardship. Living in a small town it might be hard to find a group big enough for a specific support group or you might be embarrassed to attend. Online support groups are a wonderful asset because you can connect from your computer or your phone to dozens, if not thousands, of people going through the same problems. When attending a support group it is a generally understood rule to keep what is shared in a group private and not to share with anyone. However, you cannot control what someone else may do or say outside of the ...

References

Stoyanov, S.R., Hides, L., Kavanagh, D.J., Zelenko, O., Tjondronegoro, D., & Mani, M. (2015). Mobile app rating scale: A new tool for assessing the quality of health mobile apps. JMIR mHealth and uHealth 3(1), 27. doi: 10.2196/mhealth.3422

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Health Information Center. (2015). Support Groups HealthFinder.gov. Retrieved from: https://healthfinder.gov/FindServices/SearchContext.aspx?topic=833

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Health Information Center. (2012). What is a patient portal? HealthFinder.gov Retrieved from: https://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/faqs/what-patient-portal

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Institutes of Health. (2018). Finding and evaluating online resources. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Retrieved from: https://nccih.nih.gov/health/webresources

Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development. (2018). Computer Basics. Utah Broadband. Retrieved from https://broadband.utah.gov/digital-literacy/computer-basics/