Our Improving Health Literacy and Telehealth in Carroll County proposal aims to expand the capacity of our underserved citizens to access, understand and participate in internet available healthcare resources. This includes reaching our adult Medicaid, Medicare, and substance use disorder populations. During winter 2022, we will provide a 4-part speaker series to cover 1.) discerning reliability of internet health information, 2.) interpreting clinical research findings and claims, 3.) using telehealth visits and 4.) participate in clinical research studies like the All of Us program and other clinical research protocols. Our regional healthcare providers will promote and support participation of their patients. Digital health literacy requires access to equipment, skills in its use, safe and secure high-speed internet, and telehealth platforms. Therefore, we will develop two sites with private, safe booths with dedicated computers and WiFi for telehealth visits and IT telehealth training to assure facility with the computer sites. These booths and the training will continue past the dates of the grant, in line with previous and ongoing efforts by the Conway Public Library in partnership with the Gibson Center for Senior Services in a program called Equip, Train and Connect. To assure access to equipment, we will distribute refurbished Chromebooks to older adults in need of devices and provide skills-based training in their use. The need for internet healthcare services and information is growing and rapidly
becoming standard; we intend to provide these advantages and include all of our citizens.