Health Information National Trends Survey

Participation is exclusive to HINTS Panel members; only members will have the opportunity to participate in panel activities or surveys and earn rewards. To become a panel member first enter the unique passcode included in your invitation letter and select Begin. Then enter an email address and password to create your HINTS Panel account. Review the consent form including your rights as a participant and panel member. If you agree to participate, submit the consent form to join the panel. To learn more about the panel select About at the top of this page.

At this time membership to the HINTS Panel is by invitation only. Those invited received an email or a letter in the mail inviting them to join the panel.

Some surveys will take as little as five minutes to complete, others will take about 20 to 30 minutes to complete.

Yes! You will receive electronic Amazon gift card codes for completing panel activities or surveys. The amount you will receive for each survey or activity will be listed on the survey dashboard.

As a member of the panel, you will be asked to complete up to five surveys per year. You will receive an email from HINTSPanel@westat.com when a new survey or activity has been added to the dashboard. Depending on your preferred method of contact, we may also send you text messages. You will always have the opportunity to opt out or change your preferred method of contact.

As a member of the HINTS Panel, you will be notified of panel surveys and activities and earn rewards as soon as they become available.

Yes. Your responses will be kept private under the Privacy Act. Your responses cannot be linked to any information that could identify you to the extent provided by law. In addition, we have taken measures to ensure that your private information will not be disclosed:

• Once received, completed surveys will be given an anonymous code that will prevent them from being linked to your name, address, or other personal information.
• Your name will not appear in any written reports or publications stemming from this research.
• Your responses will be combined with responses from other panel members.

The panel is sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, a part of the National Institutes of Health.

The HINTS data collection program was created to monitor changes in the rapidly evolving field of health communication. The HINTS Panel is an extension of the HINTS program, and will allow researchers to identify trends over time. Survey researchers will use the data to understand how adults 18 years and older use different communication channels, including the Internet, to obtain vital health information for themselves and their loved ones. Program planners will use the data to overcome barriers to health information access across populations, and to obtain the data they need to create more effective communication strategies. Finally, social scientists use the data to refine their theories of health communication in the information age and to offer new and better recommendations for reducing the burden of cancer throughout the population.