Older Adults Seeking Healthcare Information on the Internet

Hardt, J; Hollis-Sawyer, Lisa

doi:10.1080/03601270701364628

Cited by 44 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…These skills are often associated with socio-demographic effects. Since health usually deteriorates with age (Hardt & Hollis-Sawyer, 2007), the probability that older people will use social media is lower than among younger individuals. Gender: Women's motivation may be reinforced by their role as ''care-givers''.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social media and online health services: A health empowerment perspective to online health information

Mano

2014

Computers in Human Behavior

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Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social media and online health services: A health empowerment perspective to online health information

Mano

2014

Computers in Human Behavior

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“…Moreover, socio-economic factors increase individuals' potential to surf the internet for general as well as specific information, including information related to health and medical issues [49]. Age is a proxy for internet skills [17].…”

Section: Socioeconomic Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Online Health Information and Health Changes: A Gender Approach to Technology and Health Empowerment among Jewish Women in Israel

Mano¹

2016

CMPH

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various purposes and 22.8% sought out health information, whereas only 17.4% of men visited health sites [2,3]. For women who do have technology skills, the Internet triggers a learning process and provides basic and often necessary information about health products and services thus increasing health empowerment. The current study focuses on the effect of gender variations in Online Health Information (hereafter OHI) and health changes among Israel's Jewish population.In Israel, 75% of the Jewish population has access to the internet, and 62% of the population reported conducting internet health searches [4,5]. According to OECD reports [3], between 2000 and 2012 access to the internet in Israel increased considerably, from 19.7% to 70.2%. This increase is higher than the increase in other industrial countries during the same period. In Canada, for example, the rate increased from 42.8% to 80.3%. In EU countries such as Germany and France, internet use increased from 18.4% in 2000 to 83.5% in 2012, while internet use in 2012 in Ireland reached 94.6% and in Sweden 91.69%. In general terms, Israel's overall rate of internet access is lower than the median of 76.13% reported for the EU zone (28 countries). Since these differences may indicate variations between groups it is interesting to consider the extent to which health empowerment is a gender-specific process that affects OHI and health changes.The internet offers a wide range of options for men and women alike by providing immediate results for individuals seeking OHI. The technological and functional features of the internet enable individuals to find health information quickly and efficiently. Yet at the same time, a substantial number of studies have raised concerns that the "technology embedded" internet may affect women and additional social groups who may lack the necessary technical skills or just dislike using Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) to seek information [6]. Addressing the link between gender OHI and health changes is especially important because a large segment of Jewish women in Israel seeks to combine work responsibilities and career with the role of family caregiver [7][8][9]. At the same time, women have been shown to be quite selective in the scope of their internet use. They are likely to search diverse sites [10] and to use information in different ways [11] and for the benefit of various persons, including family and community members [12][13][14].In communication and sociological studies the concept of digital divide provides ample evidence for the existence of differences in access and use of internet sources. The "first level" of the digital divide, is caused by low technological skills [15,16] that stem from socioeconomic variations-gender, education, income, occupation and ethnicity. The "second level" digital divide effect [17] occurs when individuals from "weak" social groups fail to benefit from OHI information to improve their health literacy and this may affect their healthcare status [18,19] and health behaviors [20]...

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“…Specifically, health information seeking relates to how and why people acquire health information, the channels they use to locate health information, preferred media for receiving health information and how found information is utilised (Lambert & Loiselle, 2007;Warner & Procaccino, 2004). The focus of research and resulting literature in this field is largely directed towards an examination of health information seeking behaviours based on attributes such as age, gender and health status (for example Hardt & Hollis-Sawyer, 2007;Kim, Lustria, Burke & Kwon, 2007;McCaughan & McKenna, 2007;Porter & Edirippulige, 2007;Wathen & Harris, 2006;Warner & Procaccino, 2004;Wicks, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning wellness: how ageing Australians experience health information literacy

Yates¹,

Partridge²,

Bruce³

2009

The Australian Library Journal

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Given identified synergies between information use and health status greater understanding is needed about how people use information to learn about their health. This paper presents the findings of preliminary research into health information literacy. Analysis of data from semi-structured interviews revealed six different ways ageing Australians experience using information to learn about their health. Health information literacy is new terrain for information literacy research endeavours and one which warrants further attention by the profession to foster and promote within the community. … the set of abilities needed to: recognise a health information need; identify likely information sources and use them to retrieve relevant information; assess the quality of the information and its applicability to a specific situation; and analyse, understand and use the information to make good health decisions (MLA, 2003, para 5). This manuscript was received in March 2009 and is based on work done in a Queensland University of Technology Masters program. This is a refereed paper. IntroductionSeveral factors underline the importance and relevance of health information literacy for individuals, and the need to promote and develop this within the broader community. These include acknowledged interplay between health and information use, and rising demand for community access to health information emerging from changing interrelationships between professionals and consumers in the health care industry. Furthermore, the collective health status of our community has significant implications for current and future demand on health care systems, and health information literacy is an important tool that can assist individuals maintain good health and wellbeing.The modern world reflects an economy underpinned by knowledge, and it is information that enables individuals and communities to develop new knowledge to resolve issues on personal, professional and social levels. It has also been acknowledged that individual health behaviour is significantly influenced by knowledge, attitudes and beliefs, and synergies between these attributes can determine present and future health status (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2008). If knowledge has the power to influence and shape individuals' health status it is important that we understand how people use information to learn about their health; that is, we need to understand how people experience health information literacy. This paper discusses the findings of preliminary research which explored how health information literacy is experienced in one aspect of community life. It reveals and provides early insights into: variation in how ageing Australians are using information to learn about • and maintain their health, and variation in what people constitute as information that is used for • maintaining health.The first objective was to examine the whole experience of health information literacy. Exploring variation in what constitutes information within that experience was id...

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Older Adults Seeking Healthcare Information on the Internet

Cited by 44 publications

References 3 publications

Social media and online health services: A health empowerment perspective to online health information

Social media and online health services: A health empowerment perspective to online health information

Online Health Information and Health Changes: A Gender Approach to Technology and Health Empowerment among Jewish Women in Israel

Learning wellness: how ageing Australians experience health information literacy

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