Sharing information about health‐related resources: Observations from a community resource referral intervention trial in a predominantly African American/Black community

CommunityRx is a theory‐driven, information technology‐based intervention, developed with and in a predominantly African American/Black community, that provides patients with personalized information (a “HealtheRx”) about self‐management and social care resources in their community. We described patient and clinician information sharing after exposure to the intervention during a clinical trial. Survey data from 145 patients (ages 45–74) and 121 clinicians were analyzed. Of patients who shared information at least once (49%), 47% reported sharing ≥3 times (range 1–14). Patient sharers were in poorer physical health (mean PCS 37.6 vs. 40.8, p = .05) than nonsharers and more likely to report going to a resource on their HealtheRx (79 vs. 41%, p ≤ .05). Most patient sharers provided others a look at or copy of their HealtheRx, keeping the original. Patients used the HealtheRx to promote credibility of the information and communicate that resources were disease‐specific and local. Half of clinicians shared HealtheRx resource information with peers; sharers were 3 times more likely than nonsharers to feel they were well‐informed about resources to address social needs (55 vs. 18%, p