Search Engines Matter: From Educating Users Towards Engaging with Online Health Information Practices

Mager, Astrid

doi:10.1515/1944-2866.1166

Cited by 22 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous research has highlighted the role of Google as the primary gatekeeper to relevant health information . Mager analysed data collected in 2006–2007 from 40 individuals tasked with finding information online about a particular chronic disease assigned to them by the researchers. The importance of Google was evident, as it ‘actively mediated and shaped what information users ended up with, and how they interacted with and evaluated bits and pieces of information they found on various websites’ (p. 15).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Young adults' experiences of seeking online information about diabetes and mental health in the age of social media

Fergie

Hilton

Hunt

2015

Health Expectations

106

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BackgroundThe Internet is a primary source of health information for many. Since the widespread adoption of social media, user‐generated health‐related content has proliferated, particularly around long‐term health issues such as diabetes and common mental health disorders (CMHDs).ObjectiveTo explore perceptions and experiences of engaging with health information online in a sample of young adults familiar with social media environments and variously engaged in consuming user‐generated content.MethodsForty semi‐structured interviews were conducted with young adults, aged 18–30, with experience of diabetes or CMHDs. Data were analysed following a thematic networks approach to explore key themes around online information‐seeking and content consumption practices.ResultsAlthough participants primarily discussed well‐rehearsed approaches to health information‐seeking online, particularly reliance on search engines, their accounts also reflected active engagement with health‐related content on social media sites. Navigating between professionally produced websites and user‐generated content, many of the young adults seemed to appreciate different forms of health knowledge emanating from varied sources. Participants described negotiating health content based on social media practices and features and assessing content heuristically. Some also discussed habitual consumption of content related to their condition as integrated into their everyday social media use.ConclusionTechnologies such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube offer opportunities to consume and assess content which users deem relevant and useful. As users and organizations continue to colonize social media platforms, opportunities are increasing for health communication and intervention. However, how such innovations are adopted is dependent on their alignment with users' expectations and consumption practices.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Young adults' experiences of seeking online information about diabetes and mental health in the age of social media

Fergie

Hilton

Hunt

2015

Health Expectations

106

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“…Comparing the results presented in this paper with results from our analysis of users' search behaviour, also conducted in the larger project -Virtually Informed‖ [13] (see Mager, 2009;2012a), illustrates how users' information acquisition is influenced by the way search engines rank their results. When employing general search terms such as -diabetes‖ or -type 2 diabetes‖, users primarily ended up on large, well-optimized Web sites, such as the general health portal analysed in this paper.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Health information politics: Reconsidering the democratic ideal of the Web as a source of medical knowledge

Mager¹

2012

Self Cite

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This paper challenges the democratic ideal of the Web as a new public sphere in the medical context. Drawing on a mix of methods it investigates how different Web site providers configure and position their diabetes sites in the multitude of online health information, search engine results in particular. Building on insights gained from critical new media studies and medical sociology, it shows that a range of power relations and information politics are involved in these practices, triggering information visibility hierarchies and a commercialisation of online health information, partly overlapping with off-line contexts. To conclude, it argues for reconsidering the democratic ideal of the Web and focusing on market dynamics involved in the production of medical Web information co-produced by Web site providers and search engine algorithms.

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“…Building campus partnerships and campus-community partnerships for improving the literacy of students, faculty, and practitioners has been one scheme to better integrate library resources and services with other means of knowledge provision by deploying learning management systems (Jackson, 2007), building foundation course portals (Hiscock & Marriott, 2003), sharing experience with search engines (Mager, 2012), and through the inclusion of librarians in collaborative teaching (Kuhlthau, Maniotes, & Caspari, 2007). A best practice case in the medical field is reported from an information literacy framework in Scotland (Craig, 2009).…”

Section: Improving the Literacy Of Medical Students 480mentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving the Literacy of Medical Students: A Collective Knowledge Management Effort by the University for Development Studies Medical School in Ghana and the Community Surrounding the University

Alu¹,

Bardy²,

Dadzie³

2017

UCER-B

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The purpose of the study is to show how a collective knowledge management effort was undertaken in a low-tech environment yields outcomes that benefit all participants of the effort-students and staff of a medical school, the medical profession in the community, paramedics, and the community at large. It also demonstrates that acquainting students with knowledge management skills early and improving their information literacy. If they can effectively manage their knowledge resources in close connection with all members of the society around their school, the benefits will be improving academic efficiency, diagnostic effectiveness, and feedback from medical institutions and patients. The study descends from the Medical Library Association's definition of health information literacy. It uses a survey at the University for Development Studies (UDS) in Tamale, Ghana, to examine the information and literacy skills of its medical students. Also, it explores the level of awareness of the various databases to which the university library is subscribed, the benefits of information literacy skills, and the challenges that students face in identifying and using information sources. From there, the paper explores avenues for improving the situation of the students of which the optimal is conjoining resources in and outside the medical school. Linking faculty, students, and medical professionals in the university's local environment in a collective endeavour for enhancing the literacy skills proper can result in a shared inventory of tools that help to discriminate, which information is needed and which is redundant. From this foundation, students would develop abilities to understand knowledge management and know how to apply it in their specific field of professionalization. The sample was selected from doctoral students in a single institution in the field of education. Also, the sample was self-selected and relatively small. There is a caveat, therefore, for generalizing the findings to other doctoral student populations. This study is useful to health administrators and faculty members, because issues concerning the importance of information literacy skills do not only apply to UDS, Tamale, but to other medical institutions in Africa as well. The study provides university libraries with reliable data on the need for and the effectiveness of information literacy instruction and it enables the librarians to strategize how to improve the instructions they provide. The medical profession highly depends on the adequacy of diagnosis and therapy selection, and for this, any medical professional must be capable to access and use state of the art information sources. There are only a few studies around the topic of medical literacy and almost none for developing countries. But the results of the other studies corroborate the findings of this paper to a great extent.

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Search Engines Matter: From Educating Users Towards Engaging with Online Health Information Practices

Cited by 22 publications

References 43 publications

Young adults' experiences of seeking online information about diabetes and mental health in the age of social media

Young adults' experiences of seeking online information about diabetes and mental health in the age of social media

Health information politics: Reconsidering the democratic ideal of the Web as a source of medical knowledge

Improving the Literacy of Medical Students: A Collective Knowledge Management Effort by the University for Development Studies Medical School in Ghana and the Community Surrounding the University

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