Harkness Project Title: Adolescent Information-Seeking on the Internet Regarding Health and Medications
Mentor: Jonathan Klein, M.D.
Placement: University of Rochester Medical Center
Biography at time of Harkness Fellowship: Nicola J. Gray, a 2001–02 Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy, is a research associate in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Manchester. A practicing community pharmacist, her research and policy interests include adolescents' health and information channels, health literacy, direct-to-consumer advertising of medications, and improving access to medicines by extending prescribing rights. Gray was the 1999 recipient of the Pharmaceutical Care Award of the Pharmaceutical Journal and Glaxo Wellcome UK for excellence in the development of pharmaceutical services. She has also served as a member of numerous pharmaceutical societies, steering groups, and associations, including the Council of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and the steering group of Promoting Excellence in Consumer Medicines Information.
Project: Gray’s project explored adolescents’ use of the Internet for health information, with the aim of defining elements of an educational package that could help them build health literacy. She undertook a content analysis of youth magazines in the U.S. and U.K. to determine the amount and nature of promoted health information websites. She also conducted a survey of students to gauge their Internet use, and conducted a series of focus groups on their perceptions of the Internet as a source for health information.
Career Activity Since Fellowship
- Reader in Medicines and Health, School of Pharmacy, University of Central Lancashire, 2010
- Lecturer in Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham, 2003
Current Position: Independent Pharmacist Researcher, Manchester, England (Updated 1/2014)
E-mail: [email protected]
Selected Publications
Boardman HF, Gray NJ, Symonds BS. Interactions between parents/carers of pre-school children and pharmacy staff when buying non-prescription medicines. Int J Clin Pharm. 2011 Oct;33(5):832-41.
Gray NJ. “Editorial: The Adolescence of the Web—From Turbulence to Enlightenment,” Journal of Adolescent Health 48 (2011): 117-118
Jenssen BP, Gray NJ, Harvey K, Daluga NA, Salazar LF, Klein JD, DiClemente RJ. “Language Analysis of MySpace Profiles.” Journal of Adolescent Health, conference abstract for Society of Adolescent Health and Medicine (Toronto), April 2010.
Gray, N; Coughlan, D (CPD article). “Health literacy is not just reading and writing.” Pharmaceutical Journal 2009; 283: 333-6.
Gray, NJ (Invited Editorial). “Health Information on the Internet—A Double-Edged Sword?” Journal of Adolescent Health 2008; 42: 432-3.
Gray, NJ. “Adolescents, the Internet, and health literacy.” In: ‘eHealth’. Eds: Cohall, A and Rickert, V. (Adolescent Medicine: State of the Art Reviews Vol 18, no 2). Chicago, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics 2007.
Wilson, KM; Klein, JD; Sesselberg, TS; Yussman, SM; Markow, DB; Green, AE; West, JC; Gray, NJ. Use of complementary medicine and dietary supplements among U.S. adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health 2006; 38(4): 385-94.
Sesselberg, TS; Gray, NJ; Klein, JD. “I read about it in CosmoGirl”. Journal of Adolescent Health 2006; 38(2): 162-3.Gray, NJ and Klein, JD. “Adolescents and the Internet: health and sexuality information.” Current Opinion in Obstetrics and Gynecology 2006; 18(5): 519-24.
Gray NJ, Klein JD, Noyce PR, Sesselberg TS, Cantrill JA. “The Internet: A Window on Adolescent Health Literacy,” Journal of Adolescent Health; 37(3): 243.e1-243.e7.
Gray NJ, Klein JD, Noyce PR, Sesselberg TS, Cantrill JA. “Health Information Seeking Behaviour in Adolescence: The Place of the Internet,” Social Science and Medicine 2005; 60(7): 1467-1478.
Gray N. “Health Literacy: Implications for Concordance and Compliance,” The Pharmaceutical Journal 2003; 271(11): 501-502.
Gray NJ, Klein JD, Sesselberg TS, Cantrill JA, Noyce PR. “Adolescents' Health Literacy and the Internet.” Journal of Adolescent Health 2003; 32(2):124.
Sesselberg TS, Wilson KM, Gray NJ, Klein JD. “Adolescents' Knowledge of and Beliefs about Complementary and Alternative medicine: a Qualitative Study.” Journal of Adolescent Health 2003; 32(2): 126.
Gray N, Klein J, Cantrill J, Noyce P. “Adolescent Girls’ Use of the Internet for Health Information: Issues Beyond Access,” Journal of Medical Systems 2002; 26(6): 545-553.
Gray NJ, Klein JD, Cantrill JA, Noyce PR. “Buying Medicines on the Internet: Young Consumers’ Perceptions” Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association 2002; 42(2):313.
Gray NJ, Klein JD, Cantrill JA, Noyce PR. “Information about Health and Medicines Provided by Internet Sites Promoted in Popular UK Youth Magazines” 8th Health Services Research and Pharmacy Practice Conference Abstracts, Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain 2002.