By Angela Perry
I belong to the first generation that grew up with computers at home, and I remember when Al Gore invented the Internet. I may be dating myself, but I got an AOL subscription for Christmas when I was 13, and I still have a visceral teenage-girl response to the sound You’ve Got Mail. The Internet (I swear that was on the first page of a Google image search) has changed society forever, and it’s definitely had a huge impact on my generation.
When the Internet became accessible to people through their cell phones, it opened the web to even more Americans. For low-income young adults, smartphones are often the primary method for connecting to the Internet. There are already more than 1.08 billion smartphone users in the world, out of which 91.4 million are from the United States. In the US, 62% of mobile adults aged 25-34 report owning smartphones, and it’s close to 54% of 18-24 year olds. In fact, while 25% of smartphone users overall use their phone as their primary Internet access point, 42% of young adults, 38% of African Americans, and 40% of Latinos go online mostly using their cell phones.
Over 52% of smartphone owners use their phones to look up health information, and users who are Latino or African American, between the ages of 18-49, or hold a college degree are also more likely to gather health information this way. Latinos are expected to be California’s largest ethnic group by the end of 2013 (and that population is predominantly younger than the rest of the population), more than half of Californians are under 34, and 31% of 18-34 year olds in California are uninsured. Those stats were a big part of the reason Young Invincibles developed a smartphone mobile app here in Los Angeles to help young people discover their health care options! Now you can find all the information you need in one place, rather than searching for information all over the Internet.
We’ve gone to health fairs throughout California and conducted focus groups of young people in South LA, including student groups, health organizations, and youth activists. We’ve asked dozens of users what they want to know about health care, what they think of the app, and how we can improve it going forward. Based on the responses of these helpful volunteers, we’ve been able to incorporate feedback and improve the app, so that youth across the nation (including you!) can easily and efficiently get access to health care information!
You can find local health care services with the app, and you can learn about the options available to you (you can also find this info on our new Healthy Young America site). The app has a “Find a Doctor” section, which helps you find both free and paid healthcare options; a “Healthcare FAQ” section, which answers questions about your health care options, student health insurance, and the new healthcare laws; and there’s even a waiting room game to keep you busy while you wait for your appointment. The app has been mentioned in the LA Times and on NPR, and it’s kind of a big deal. We have apps for both Android and iPhone users, so go check it out.
The thing we do know is that as California moves forward with it’s health care expansion, young people are going to turn to their smartphones when they’re looking for health care information. The good news? Young Invincibles has us covered.