| Course | HLTH 5443 Technology, Leadership, and Health Informatics |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 3 |
| Paper type | Digital access and health literacy analysis |
| Length | 1,180 words, about 4 pages plus title and reference pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | American College of Education |
| Program | M.Ed. in Health and Wellness Education |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for HLTH 5443 Module 3
Who Gets Left Out of a Smart Inhaler Program? Digital Access, eHealth Literacy and Health Literacy Barriers Among Adolescents With Asthma
Student Name
American College of Education
HLTH5443: Technology, Leadership, and Health Informatics
Module 3 Assignment
Instructor Name
October 19, 2026
Introduction
Modules 1 and 2 evaluated smart inhaler sensors for a composite county school health program and described how the program would turn sensor data into care and health education. Any technology-based program risks helping most the people who need help least. Teenagers with the most uncontrolled asthma are disproportionately from low-income families and from Black and Puerto Rican communities (Zahran et al., 2018), the same groups more likely to face gaps in device access and in health care. This paper examines the barriers that could keep students from benefiting from the pilot, organized into digital access, eHealth literacy and health literacy, and proposes a design response to each.
Digital Access
Access to a smartphone is nearly universal among U.S. teenagers, but access is not the same as reliable use. A national survey found that 95% of teens reported having or having access to a smartphone (Anderson & Jiang, 2018). The phrase having access to matters: some students share a phone with a parent or sibling, some use older phones that cannot run the app, and some rely on prepaid plans that run out of data before the end of the month. For the sensor to work, the student's phone must be compatible, have Bluetooth turned on, run the app in the background and connect to the internet regularly. Students who move between households, such as those with parents who live apart, may leave their phone or inhaler in one home. Students in unstable housing may lose chargers or devices entirely. In the county program, nurses estimate that about one in six students with persistent asthma would have trouble meeting these requirements at least some of the time.
eHealth Literacy
Norman and Skinner (2006) defined eHealth literacy as the ability to seek, find, understand and appraise health information from electronic sources and to apply that knowledge to solve a health problem. Their model describes six component literacies: traditional literacy, the ability to read and write; health literacy; information literacy, knowing how information is organized and how to search it; scientific literacy, understanding how health knowledge is produced; media literacy, judging the purpose and credibility of media; and computer literacy, the ability to use devices and software. They observed that close to half of North American adults read at levels below what is needed to fully engage in an information-rich society.
Applied to the pilot, the model shows that comfort with phones, a form of computer literacy that most teens have, is not enough. Students must understand what the app's charts mean, such as the difference between controller adherence and rescue use, which draws on health and numerical literacy. They must judge whether advice in the app or on social media about asthma is trustworthy, which draws on media and scientific literacy. A teen who can navigate any app with ease may still misread a chart showing rescue use or believe an online claim that controller medicines are unnecessary.
Health Literacy of Students and Families
Health literacy, the capacity to obtain, process and understand the basic health information and services needed for sound health decisions (Institute of Medicine, 2004), affects both students and parents. Many adolescents with asthma do not know the difference between controller and rescue inhalers, do not know that controller medicine must be taken daily even when they feel well and use inhalers with poor technique. Parents vary as well; some understand asthma action plans, while others have never received one or cannot read it easily. Low health literacy is associated with poorer understanding of medication instructions, and asthma management depends heavily on such instructions. The sensor program adds a layer of information, so it could either help families understand asthma better or overwhelm those who already struggle.
Language and Trust
About a third of families in the county program speak Spanish at home, and some speak other languages. If the app and consent materials are only in English, many parents will not understand what data are collected or how they are used. Trust is a related barrier. Some families distrust institutions that collect data about their children, especially when immigration concerns or past negative experiences with schools and health systems are present. A sensor that records every inhaler use can feel like surveillance. Teenagers may also worry that data will be used against them, for example to report nonadherence to parents or coaches. Without trust, families may decline to enroll or students may remove the sensor, and the students who might gain the most will be absent from the pilot.
Design Responses
Each barrier suggests a response. For device access, the program will provide a basic compatible phone with a data plan to students who need one for the pilot, allow sensors to sync through a school tablet in the nurse's office when a student's phone fails and replace lost chargers without penalty. For eHealth literacy, enrollment will include a 20-minute session in which the nurse shows each student the app, explains each chart in plain language and uses the teach-back method, asking the student to explain what a chart means. For health literacy, the session will cover the difference between controller and rescue inhalers and check technique, and the program will give every family a simple, illustrated asthma action plan. For language, all materials, app instructions and consent forms will come in both English and Spanish, while the district's family liaison will help with other languages. For trust, the program will explain clearly what is recorded, who sees it and how to stop sharing, emphasize that data are used to help rather than to punish and give students control over whether data are shared with parents.
Measuring Equity in the Pilot
The program should check whether its design responses work. Enrollment rates will be compared across schools and student groups to see whether students from low-income families and from Spanish-speaking households enroll at similar rates. Data completeness, the share of days with synced data, will be tracked by group; large gaps would suggest device or connectivity problems. Changes in adherence, rescue use and symptoms will be reported by group so that the program can see whether benefits are shared. Brief surveys at the end of the pilot will ask students and parents whether the app was easy to understand and whether they trusted how data were used. These measures turn equity from a goal into something the program can see and correct.
Conclusion
A smart inhaler program could reduce asthma disparities or widen them, depending on how it is designed. Barriers of digital access, eHealth literacy, health literacy, language and trust are most likely to affect the students with the greatest need. By supplying devices and school-based syncing, teaching app use with teach-back, strengthening basic asthma knowledge, providing bilingual materials and building trust through transparency and student control, the pilot can reach the students it is meant to help. Module 4 will examine the privacy, security and compliance rules that govern the data.
References
Anderson, M., & Jiang, J. (2018). Teens, social media & technology 2018. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/05/31/teens-social-media-technology-2018/
Institute of Medicine. (2004). Health literacy: A prescription to end confusion. The National Academies Press.
Norman, C. D., & Skinner, H. A. (2006). eHealth literacy: Essential skills for consumer health in a networked world. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 8(2), e9. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.8.2.e9
Zahran, H. S., Bailey, C. M., Damon, S. A., Garbe, P. L., & Breysse, P. N. (2018). Vital signs: Asthma in children: United States, 2001-2016. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 67(5), 149-155. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6705e1
HLTH 5443 Module 3 instructions, in plain terms
The third HLTH 5443 module often asks you to examine barriers that could prevent a population from benefiting from a health technology. Prompts typically expect attention to digital access, including devices, connectivity and skills, and to health literacy and eHealth literacy, along with language, culture and trust. Use data on your population where possible, and explain how each barrier would affect use of the specific technology. Many sections also ask for strategies to overcome the barriers. Keep the technology and population from your earlier modules. Check Canvas for whether a particular literacy framework must be applied and whether strategies should be presented in a table. Barriers that affect consent and enrollment deserve attention too.
How the HLTH 5443 Module 3 example is put together
The example begins by noting that the students with the most uncontrolled asthma are those most likely to face access gaps. It then analyzes device and connectivity barriers, applies the six-part eHealth literacy model to the app's charts and online information, examines health literacy among students and parents and considers language and trust. A section proposes a response to each barrier, from loaner phones and school syncing to teach-back and bilingual materials, and another explains how the pilot will measure whether benefits are shared across groups. The paper keeps each barrier tied to a specific moment of use, such as syncing, reading a chart or signing a consent form.
Where the points sit in the HLTH 5443 Module 3 rubric
Graders commonly reward analyses that distinguish different kinds of barriers rather than treating access as one issue. A named literacy framework, applied to the specific technology, shows depth. Evidence on the population's needs and disparities strengthens the paper. Strategies should match each barrier and be realistic for the organization. Measuring whether barriers are overcome shows commitment to equity. Organized sections, respectful language about the population and APA 7 citations complete the paper. Showing how barriers overlap, for example when a student with limited data also has low health literacy and a parent who speaks another language, demonstrates understanding of how disadvantage compounds. Graders also look for respectful, person-first language and for strategies that do not add burden to the families facing the most barriers.
Common HLTH 5443 Module 3 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Barrier papers can stay abstract unless they show how each obstacle affects real users. If you need help applying an eHealth literacy framework, finding data on your population or designing responses, we can help. Tell us which technology and group you have followed so far and paste in the prompt, and a writer can prepare a Module 3 paper that names each barrier precisely, shows how it would play out in daily use and pairs it with a response your organization could adopt. If your technology serves older adults, families of young children or another group, we adjust the barriers and responses to that population and its setting.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official American College of Education document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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HLTH 5443 Module 3 questions, answered
What does HLTH5443 Module 3 usually ask for?
In HLTH5443, Module 3 generally asks you to analyze how digital access and literacy barriers affect whether a population can benefit from a health technology, and how to address them.
What is eHealth literacy?
The ability to seek, find, understand and appraise health information from electronic sources and apply it to a health problem, drawing on traditional, health, information, scientific, media and computer literacies.
Isn't phone access universal among teens?
Most teens have or can access a smartphone, but shared phones, older devices, limited data and unstable housing can still prevent reliable use of a health app.
Where can I find a free HLTH 5443 Module 3 sample paper?
A full Module 3 barriers paper is available here, analyzing digital access, eHealth literacy, health literacy, language and trust in a smart inhaler pilot for teens, with a design response for each.
What is the teach-back method?
A technique in which the educator asks the learner to explain information in their own words to confirm understanding and correct gaps.