Adults at every stage of life, in good health or poor health, say they use online resources to connect with each other and make better-informed decisions. In a prior report, "The Social Life of Health Information," the Pew Internet Project and the California HealthCare Foundation reported on how the general population uses the internet to gather and share health advice.¹ The current study focuses on people living with chronic diseases.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), nearly half of adults in the U.S. are living with at least one chronic illness.² These diseases are among the top killers in the U.S. and represent a significant portion of health care spending.³

Online health resources play a supporting role in many people’s lives as they pursue better health and navigate the health care system, either as passive recipients of advice or as active "partners in their care."⁴ Disease-specific patient networks, which have been called "the chicken soup of the internet," present an opportunity for people to harness social media tools not only for emotional support but to find practical tips and to weigh treatment options.⁵ There is also a significant investment being made in the Nationwide Health Information Network, which is meant to bring together streams of medical information and ensure its secure exchange between health care consumers and providers.⁶ However, the question remains: Are online health resources reaching the population most in need?

A national telephone survey, conducted in December 2008, asked about the following five chronic diseases: high blood pressure, lung conditions, heart conditions, diabetes, and cancer. This collection of diseases encompasses the most common conditions affecting Americans, but is narrower than the one used by the CDC, for example. This survey finds that 36% of adults in the U.S. say they are living with at least one of those five conditions and 13% say they have two or more.