Practicum Highlight: Cara Chang, MPH'25

Enhancing Senior Health Literacy Through GenAI: Cara Chang's Exploration of AI's Impact on Healthcare Access and Education

Dartmouth MPH candidate Cara Chang, PMP, MS, is evaluating how GenAI tools may enhance health literacy among seniors in her practicum project. In her scoping review, Promoting Health Literacy and Empowering Senior Patients in the U.S. through GenAI Agents, Cara assesses the potential impact of these tools on healthcare providers and focuses on their use in information gathering, health education, and literacy among patients aged 54 and older.

Cara, a senior documentation specialist, presented her work alongside her classmates during the Hybrid MPH Class of 2025 Integrative Learning Experience (ILE) Presentations last week (March 2025).

Cara’s review highlights that GenAI tools can provide accurate and empathetic responses, helping seniors engage more effectively in their healthcare. Data from forty-two included records was analyzed to examine GenAI's role in health literacy, seniors' digital behaviors, barriers and facilitators to AI adoption, and impacts on healthcare provider workflows.

Her findings reveal several barriers to GenAI adoption among seniors, including concerns about accuracy, trust, digital literacy, and access to technology. For instance, seniors without access to the internet, smartphones, or computers are more likely to struggle with digital literacy, limiting their ability to use GenAI tools effectively. Approximately 1 in 4 seniors do not own a smartphone, and 7.8% lack an internet subscription, making it harder for them to benefit from GenAI tools for information-seeking. Additionally, seniors with lower incomes are more likely to lack access to these resources.

On the other hand, potential facilitators of GenAI adoption include the simplicity and availability of these tools, as well as their ability to learn empathetic communication. Healthcare providers could use GenAI to reduce electronic health record (EHR) communication burdens, potentially saving time and reducing clinician burnout. GenAI tools have significant potential to improve health literacy among seniors, fostering better patient engagement while reducing the workload for healthcare providers.

“GenAI agents can personalize responses to patients' health questions when they have access to the patients' stored information, such as prior questions or health records,” explains Cara. For example, Epic has integrated GenAI technology within MyChart to generate draft responses to patient inquiries based on their stored health records, which a provider then reviews before sending. Epic claims to provide 1 million draft responses monthly across 150 healthcare systems, saving clinicians 500,000 minutes per month.

Cara believes that future research should focus on comparing the accuracy of AI-generated responses with physician-provided information and developing strategies to overcome barriers to AI adoption in senior populations. Reflecting on her experience at Dartmouth, Cara shares, “I feel incredibly fortunate to have studied public health at Dartmouth. I especially love the hybrid format, which allows me to continue working full-time while benefiting from regular in-person and online interactions with Dartmouth faculty and my fellow students. The collaborative environment and rigorous curriculum have sharpened my problem-solving abilities and given me new tools to improve public health systems.”

Written by: Mia Soucy

POSTED 4/2/2025 AT 01:12 PM IN #education #practicum #hybridmph #mph