Combining telecommunications and interactive multimedia health information on the electronic superhighway

This paper describes a unique system of providing health education in community-based settings. This project combines the structure of a telecommunications delivery system with the appeal of a colorful interactive educational program to produce a new type of "telemultimedia" program. Learners in two rural areas of Colorado can enter the electronic world of the information superhighway by way of the Denver Free-Net at The University Colorado Health Science Center in Denver; they can access The Healthy Touch Series of multimedia programs on maternal-infant health from The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. This educational journey connects the learner with electronic devices in all three sites in a seamless interconnection of hardware and software. The journey was made possible by funding from The Colorado Trust and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.