Correlates of Older Adults’ E-Health Information-Seeking Behaviors

Introduction: The Internet is an important source for health information and a medium for older adults’ empowerment in health decision-making and self-caring. Therefore, we aimed to identify the potential motivators and probable barriers of e-health information-seeking behaviors (e-HISB) among older Iranian adults. Methods: A cross-sectional study assessed the usefulness of self-efficacy, perceived encouragement, positive attitude toward e-HISB, perceived usefulness, challenges of being visited by physicians, and perceived barriers in predicting e-HISB in a sample of 320 older adults in Tabriz, Iran. Results: The self-efficacy for online information seeking, positive attitude toward e-HISB, and perceived usefulness increased the odds of e-HISB by 12.00%, 24.00%, and 15.00%, respectively. In addition, e-health literacy, conflicting information, distrust of online information, and web designs that were not senior-friendly were the major barriers to e-HISB. Discussion/Conclusion: The theoretical and practical implications of the motivators and barriers of e-HISB can be instrumental in designing and executing programs aimed at improving e-health literacy among older adults especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Associations of Health Literacy, Social Media Use, Self-efficacy and Health Information Seeking Intentions among Chinese Social Media Users (Preprint)

Journal of Medical Internet Research ◽

10.2196/19134 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Zhaomeng Niu ◽

Bo Li ◽

Jessica Willoughby ◽

Ze Li ◽

Rongting Zhou

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Health Information ◽

Information Seeking ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Media Use ◽

Health Information Seeking ◽

Social Media Use ◽

Chinese Social Media

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EDUCATION, LITERACY, NUMERACY AND HEALTH INFORMATION SEEKING IN LATER LIFE

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igz038.1174 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S322-S322

Author(s):

Takashi Yamashita ◽

Anthony R Bardo ◽

Roberto J Millar ◽

Shalini Sahoo ◽

Phyllis Cummins ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Status ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Health Information ◽

Information Seeking ◽

Information Sources ◽

Later Life ◽

Health Information Seeking ◽

Education And Health ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

Information Seeking Behaviors

Abstract Health information plays a critical role for health promotion and maintenance in later life. While health information seeking is primarily driven by need (e.g., health), significantly less is known about the roles of education and health-literacy. Thus, we examine complex pathways that link health information seeking behaviors with education and health literacy (decomposed into general literacy and numeracy), and how these pathways differ by health status among a nationally representative sample of Americans age 50 and older (n = 2,750). Data come from the 2012/2014 Program for International Assessment of Adult Competencies. Multi-group structural equation models were used to examine the use of eight health information sources (newspapers, magazines, internet, radio, TV, books, friends/family, and health professionals) by health status (good vs. poor). Findings showed that literacy and numeracy are significant mediators of the relationship between education and health professional as an information source. Additionally, the mediation effects on health professionals by literacy status [indirect-effect (good vs. poor health) = 0.48 vs. 2.13, p < 0.05] and numeracy [indirect-effect (good vs. poor health) = -0.47 vs. -1.81, p < 0.05] were significantly moderated by health. At the same time, no moderated mediation effect was observed in the use of any other information sources. This study provides some of the first nationally representative evidence regarding how education functions through health literacy components to shape health information seeking behaviors by health status. Explanations and implications for differing effects of education, literacy, and numeracy on health information seeking in later life were evaluated.

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Literacy, Numeracy, and Health Information Seeking Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in the United States

Journal of Aging and Health ◽

10.1177/0898264318800918 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 32 (1-2) ◽

pp. 33-41 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Takashi Yamashita ◽

Anthony R. Bardo ◽

Darren Liu ◽

Phyllis A. Cummins

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Older Adults ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Health Information ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Information Seeking ◽

The United States ◽

Health Information Seeking ◽

Care Providers ◽

Nationally Representative

Objectives: Health literacy is often viewed as an essential skill set for successfully seeking health information to make health-related decisions. However, this general understanding has yet to be established with the use of nationally representative data. The objective of this study was to provide the first nationally representative empirical evidence that links health information seeking behaviors with health literacy among middle-age to older adults in the United States. Methods: Data were obtained from the 2012/2014 Program for the International Assessment of Adult Literacy (PIAAC). Our analytic sample is representative of adults age 45 to 74 years ( N = 2,989). Results: Distinct components of health literacy (i.e., literacy and numeracy) were uniquely associated with the use of different health information sources (e.g., health professionals, the Internet, television). Discussion: Findings should be useful for government agencies and health care providers interested in targeting health communications, as well as researchers who focus on health disparities.

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Explaining Online Information Seeking Behaviors in People With Different Health Statuses: German Representative Cross-sectional Survey (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.25963 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Elena Link ◽

Eva Baumann ◽

Christoph Klimmt

Keyword(s):

Health Information ◽

Information Seeking ◽

Risk Perceptions ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Explanatory Power ◽

Integrative Model ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Online Information ◽

Health Information Seeking ◽

Information Seeking Behaviors

BACKGROUND Worldwide, the internet is an increasingly important channel for health information. Many theories have been applied in research on online health information seeking behaviors (HISBs), with each model integrating a different set of predictors; thus, a common understanding of the predictors of (online) HISB is still missing. Another shortcoming of the theories explaining (online) HISB is that most existing models, so far, focus on very specific health contexts such as cancer. Therefore, the assumptions of the Planned Risk Information Seeking Model (PRISM) as the latest integrative model are applied to study online HISB, because this model identifies the general cognitive and sociopsychological factors that explain health information seeking intention. We shift away from single diseases and explore cross-thematic patterns of online HISB intention and compare predictors concerning different health statuses as it can be assumed that groups of people perceiving themselves as ill or healthy will differ concerning their drivers of online HISB. Considering the specifics of online HISB and variation in individual context factors is key for the development of generalizable theories. OBJECTIVE The objective of our study was to contribute to the development of the concept of online HISB in 2 areas. First, this study aimed to explore individual-level predictors of individuals’ online HISB intention by applying the postulates of PRISM. Second, we compared relevant predictors of online HISB in groups of people with different health statuses to identify cross-thematic central patterns of online HISB. METHODS Data from a representative sample of German internet users (n=822) served to explain online HISB intentions and influencing patterns in different groups of people. The applicability of the PRISM to online HISB intention was tested by structural equation modeling and multigroup comparison. RESULTS Our results revealed PRISM to be an effective framework for explaining online HISB intention. For online HISB, attitudes toward seeking health information online provided the most important explanatory power followed by risk perceptions and affective risk responses. The multigroup comparison revealed differences both regarding the explanatory power of the model and the relevance of predictors of online HISB. The online HISB intention could be better explained for people facing a health threat, suggesting that the predictors adopted from PRISM were more suitable to explain a problem-driven type of information-seeking behavior. CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that attitudes toward seeking health information online and risk perceptions are of central importance for online HISB across different health-conditional contexts. Predictors such as self-efficacy and perceived knowledge insufficiency play a context-dependent role—they are more influential when individuals are facing health threats and the search for health information is of higher personal relevance and urgency. These findings can be understood as the first step to develop a generalized theory of online HISB.

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