Seniors, Health Information, and the Internet: Motivation, Ability, and Internet Knowledge

Abstract

Providing health information to older adults is crucial to empowering them to better control their health, and the information is readily available on the Internet. Yet, little is known about the factors that are important in affecting seniors' Internet search for health information behavior. This work addresses this research deficit by examining the role of health information orientation (HIO), eHealth literacy, and Internet knowledge (IK) in affecting the likelihood of using the Internet as a source for health information. The analysis reveals that each variable in the study is significant in affecting Internet search likelihood. Results from the analysis also demonstrate the partial mediating role of eHealth literacy and the interaction between eHealth literacy and HIO. The findings suggest that improving seniors' IK and eHealth literacy would increase their likelihood of searching for and finding health information on the Internet that might encourage better health behaviors.

Exploring the Measurement Properties of the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) Among Baby Boomers: A Multinational Test of Measurement Invariance

“…While eHEALS is used extensively in the United States [34,44-54], no previous study, to our knowledge, has ever used eHEALS in New Zealand, and the results of the 1 known study where it is being used in the United Kingdom [68] are not yet published. The majority of previous research that has examined the factor structure of eHEALS has used principal components analysis [13,23,50,54,64,67], rather than using CFA, which provides a much more rigorous evaluation than does principal components analysis.…”

“…Developed and used in further studies in Canada [42,43], the eHEALS has since been used in many countries and cultures across the globe, including the United States [34,44-54], Australia [55], Germany [56], Greece [57], Israel [58], Indonesia [59], Japan [60], the Netherlands [61,62], Norway [63], Portugal [64], Switzerland and Italy [22], Singapore [23], South Korea [65], and Taiwan [66,67], and is being used in an ongoing health intervention study in the United Kingdom [68], although results from this latter study are not yet available. The eHEALS has also been used with a wide variety of samples, including schoolchildren and adolescents [13,45,52,56,64,66,67], parents [48,69], university students [23,42], adults comprising different age groups of a wide age range [16,58,60] and adults comprising solely older generations [34,43,54], as well as veterans [46,70], patients [44,49-51,53,71], caregivers [47], and health service providers [21,59].…”

“…The eHEALS has also been used with a wide variety of samples, including schoolchildren and adolescents [13,45,52,56,64,66,67], parents [48,69], university students [23,42], adults comprising different age groups of a wide age range [16,58,60] and adults comprising solely older generations [34,43,54], as well as veterans [46,70], patients [44,49-51,53,71], caregivers [47], and health service providers [21,59]. The scale has been used with very small (<100) sample sizes [34,42,43,45,59], as well as studies comprising several thousand respondents [48,58,60,66].…”

“…Of those studies that did examine the measurement properties of the instrument, most used principal components factor analysis [13,50,54,67]. Recently, 1 study examined the construct validity of eHEALS by first using an exploratory components analysis, which extracted 1 factor from 2 different convenience samples.…”

Seniors’ attitude to e-health

“…Arief, Nguyen, & Saranto, 2013). Therefore Sheng & Penny (2013) point to the fact that it is desirable to improve seniors' Internet knowledge and eHealth literacy in order to enable them to search for health information that can improve their health behaviour, respectively quality of their life. Stroetmann et al (2002) add that if eHealth application should succeed, each senior should have the Internet access, be connected to a telephone, and have the relevant skills.…”