KATHY HOLLOWAY celebrates the World Wide Web’s quarter century but adds a cautionary note about the digital divide that still sees many miss out on access to the web that most of us now take for granted.

Twenty-five years ago, the World Wide Web did not exist.

While the internet – the ability to link together networks of computers – was developed back in the 1960s, the World Wide Web that allows us to easily search and surf those networks was just an idea back in 1989.

In March, the man behind the idea, British computer scientist, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, was celebrated as the creator of the World Wide Web, which was initially as an attempt to improve communication between the thousands of scientists involved with the European Organisation for Nuclear Research.

As you surf blithely from site to site, consider this interesting research on more than 2000 Kiwi internet users gathered by AUT researchers in 2013 as part of the World Internet Project survey that found that 92 per cent of Kiwis use the internet, while 5 per cent never have, and 3 per cent are ex-users.

Of those that do use the internet, 14 per cent used the internet only occasionally, 40 per cent were first generation users using mostly a computer, and finally 38 per cent were the highly connected next generation using multiple mobile devices.

The internet is seen as the highest-rated source for information for all age groups, but highest by those under 30 (94 per cent). Viewing online news, seeking travel and health information, along with social networking are key areas of activity. Interestingly, New Zealand is ranked number five in the world by the Web Index, a unique annual ranking of countries on the progress and social utility of the Web: see thewebindex.org/data/index

What does this mean for health care and for nursing? In my view, what is most significant is equity of access which remains uneven for the poor, the elderly and for Māori and Pacific people. The digital divide exists globally with as many as three out of five people estimated to not have access to the internet. The 2013 New Zealand Census data suggests that the percentage of households here with access to the internet has increased from 58 per cent to 73 per cent since the 2006 Census, leaving us with just a little over one in five households without access.

This has implications for access to the vast array of health information available now on the web, both nationally and globally. We know from previous research that the most important variables identified as influencing household connectivity levels were household income, the level of educational qualification and household composition. These are also key determinants of health, so the populations that are less likely to have internet access are also the groups highlighted as being more likely to experience poor health status.

As discussed in many previous columns, the health professional’s role is often to interpret the volumes of material that health consumers can download off the over one and a half billion web sites available to search. Alternatively, the nurse can be the knowledge broker for the communities they work with. This can be accessing high-quality information in an appropriate language – for example, visit www.healthed.govt.nz for free resources in Māori and a variety of Pacific languages. Many support organisations also have web presences that provide quality resources for people living with a variety of health concerns – check out www.diabetes.org.nz/resources.

Remember that with awareness comes choice, thus your role for those without access is in the provision of the awareness of potential choices to your community – keeping up to date with best practice is a professional imperative. 

Dr Kathy Holloway is dean of the Faculty of Health at Whitireia Community Polytechnic.