Harnessing technology and collaboration for an online ethnogeriatric educational resource

The paper describes the development and testing of a Web-based educational resource for usability and acceptability by health care providers who care for ethnic older adults. The work was undertaken as a dissertation project. The purpose of the Website is to provide on-demand ethnogeriatric information to enhance provider-patient interaction. Focus groups of clinicians and ethnic older adults were used in order to identify content relevant to the care of frail ethnic older adults. Collaboration with the Stanford Geriatric Education Center, On Lok SeniorHealth Services, Inc., Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education, and a network of virtual consultants provided support to the project. The site contains information on 15 cultures, 12 religions, and 6 ethnic minority cohort groups. Testing by snowball sampling generated survey data from 96 respondents, consisting of general practitioners (24%), pediatric specialists (20%), and geriatric specialists (18%). The Website was considered useful for provider-patient communication (77%) and would be recommended to others (99%). The Web-based information resource, called "Diversity, Healing, and Healthcare," currently exists as a resource rather than as a defined learning module and can be accessed at http://www.gasi. org/diversity.htm.