Perceptions of Digital Signage among Health Department Clients

Traditionally, education interventions have been delivered by healthcare personnel. In the Montana Radon Study, digital signage technology (DST) is being evaluated for its effectiveness in delivering health information while clients wait for their appointment. The objective is to make better use of the client’s time in the waiting room and un-burden the client-provider relationship. The purpose of this nested, cross-sectional study was to measure the attitudes and perceptions of waiting room clients to the DST. Survey data was collected over nine-weeks in the winter of 2011-2012 from three health department waiting rooms in Gallatin and Flathead Counties. Participants (n = 110) voluntarily responded to eight questions and were given a pack of sugar-free gum as a token of appreciation. The study was approved by the Montana State University Institutional Review Board. Out of 110 surveys, 92 replied that the system was moderately informative, very informative, or extremely informative. Also, 65 said that they would prefer a mixture of entertainment and health care information. Through this study, the opinion of the public of DST was heard and more can be done to inform clients of health related topics.