Description
The growth of new media has become integrated into all aspects of everyday life, even for populations with little or no prior experience using the Internet. As the population ages and technology advances, online communication for health-related purposes becomes an area rich for exploratory research. Though many have studied access and use in terms of older generations of Internet users, very few have sought to understand whether dying persons, specifically, are in need or want of mediated communication opportunities. The following piece of research employs case study analysis to assess the level of Internet interest among three San Diego hospice patients. Using both questionnaires and indepth interviews, and with corroborated feedback from social workers and primary care physicians, the study seeks to understand whether patients could benefit from the integration of new media into their assisted living facilities. The study is structured by the traditional communications concepts of uses and gratifications and self-efficacy. Initial findings indicate that interest does exist among patients, although convenient access does not; also, that variables such as prior technology use and patients' assessment of their own physical health decline can mediate subsequent Internet interest among these dying persons. Future research might consider larger implications, such as modifications within the healthcare industry's infrastructure, as a whole, which would allow patients at end-of-life improved opportunities to access new media from their facilities
