UICC World Cancer Congress 2006

Objective: The 2005 National Healthcare Disparities Report found that most racial disparities in access to care were narrowing except for Hispanics where the majority of disparities for both quality and access were widening. Although Hispanics/Latinos are enthusiastic eHealth Internet users, they face formidable challenges in gaining access because of cultural and economic barriers and limited availability of Spanish language websites. With 40 million Latinos in the US, it is critical that health care providers harness the Internet's capacity to reach Spanish-speaking people with cancer. As a first step, The Wellness Community (TWC) launched The Virtual Wellness Community in Spanish (www.espanol.thewellnesscommunity.org) in fall, 2003. Since then, TWC has been researching the issue of ehealth disparities from a qualitative perspective and will report on findings from these efforts. Methods: From December 2004 through January 2006, TWC held a Hispanic Thought Leaders Summit, patient and professional focus groups and an Internet training program aimed at understanding the needs of Hispanics with cancer and improving their access to Internet-based education and support. Results: We will report on the findings from TWC's Hispanic Thought Leaders Summit. The Summit brought together experts from the Latino community in healthcare, government, eHealth technology, and Latino advocacy (including survivors). This led to the publication of “Hispanics, Cancer & the Internet,” a report outlining key barriers and solutions to accessing ehealth information and support. Based upon this report, TWC has piloted a Hispanic/Latino Internet training program in Miami that was designed to increase comfort in accessing eHealth cancer information and support.