Health information needs, sources, and barriers of primary care patients to achieve patient-centered care: A literature review

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 992-1016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina A Clarke ◽  
Joi L Moore ◽  
Linsey M Steege ◽  
Richelle J Koopman ◽  
Jeffery L Belden ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information Search ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
Medical Condition ◽  
Information Access ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Common Information ◽  
Primary Care Patients

To synthesize findings from previous studies assessing information needs of primary care patients on the Internet and other information sources in a primary care setting. A systematic review of studies was conducted with a comprehensive search in multiple databases including OVID MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Scopus. The most common information needs among patients were information about an illness or medical condition and treatment methods, while the most common information sources were the Internet and patients’ physicians. Overall, patients tend to prefer the Internet for the ease of access to information, while they trust their physicians more for their clinical expertise and experience. Barriers to information access via the Internet include the following: socio-demographic variables such as age, ethnicity, income, education, and occupation; information search skills; and reliability of health information. Conclusion: Further research is warranted to assess how to create accurate and reliable health information sources for both Internet and non-Internet users.

Use of the Internet for Health Information Among Primary Care Patients in Rural West Texas

2009 ◽  
Vol 102 (6) ◽  
pp. 595-601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Zhang ◽  
Betsy Jones ◽  
Mary Spalding ◽  
Rodney Young ◽  
Mike Ragain
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Health Information ◽  
The Internet ◽  
West Texas ◽  
Primary Care Patients ◽  
Use Of The Internet

scholarly journals Qualitative study: patients’ enduring concerns about discussing internet use in general practice consultations

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. e047508
Author(s):  
Anita Cuteanu ◽  
Maureen Seguin ◽  
Sue Ziebland ◽  
Catherine Pope ◽  
Geraldine Leydon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Semistructured Interview ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Primary Care Patients ◽  
Use Of The Internet

ObjectivesTo examine patients’ accounts of their use of the internet before seeing a general practitioner (GP) using thematic analysis of semistructured interviews.DesignQualitative semistructured interview study with transcripts analysed thematically.SettingPrimary care patients consulting with 10 GPs working at 7 GP practices of varying sizes and at a range of locations around London and the Southeast of England.Participants28 adult patients: 16 women and 12 men ranging in age from 18 to 75 from a range of self-defined ethnic backgrounds. Participants were selected based on instances when the patients reported having used the internet before the consultation, when patients referred to the internet in the consultation or when the physician used the internet or made reference to it during the consultation.ResultsPatients report that they can find health information online that they believe is reliable and helpful for both themselves and their GP. However, they report uncertainty about how to share internet-based findings and reluctance to disclose their efforts at researching health issues online for fear of appearing disrespectful or interfering with the flow of the consultation.ConclusionsDespite the democratisation of access to information about health due via the internet, patients continue to experience their use of the internet for health information as a sensitive and potentially problematic topic. The onus may well be on GPs to raise the likelihood (without judgement) that patients will have looked things up before consulting and invite them to talk about what they found.

The dilemma of the direct answer

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Martin Potthast ◽  
Matthias Hagen ◽  
Benno Stein
Keyword(s):  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Web Search ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
Information Access ◽  
User Preferences ◽  
Information System Design ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Remarkable Progress ◽  
Direct Answer

No Web technology has undergone such an impressive evolution as Web search engines did and still do. Starting with the promise of "Bringing order to the Web" 1 by compiling information sources matching a query, retrieval technology has been evolving to a kind of "oracle machinery", being able to recommend a single source, and even to provide direct answers extracted from that source. Notwithstanding the remarkable progress made and the apparent user preferences for direct answers, this paradigm shift comes at a price which is higher than one might expect at first sight, affecting both users and search engine developers in their own way. We call this tradeoff "the dilemma of the direct answer"; it deserves an analysis which has to go beyond system-oriented aspects but scrutinize the way our society deals with both their information needs and means to information access. The paper in hand contributes to this analysis by putting the evolution of retrieval technology and the expectations at it in the context of information retrieval history. Moreover, we discuss the trade offs in information behavior and information system design that users and developers may face in the future.

scholarly journals Health Information Accessed on the Internet: The Development in 5 European Countries

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per Egil Kummervold ◽  
Rolf Wynn
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Major Part ◽  
Information Access ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Continuous Growth ◽  
Media Source ◽  
Use Of The Internet ◽  
Near Future

The aim of this study was to summarize and analyse findings from four prior studies on the use of the Internet as a source of health information in five European countries (Norway, Denmark, Germany, Greece, and Portugal). A cross-study comparison of data was performed. All the studies included fit with a trend of a sharp and continuous growth in the use of the Internet for health information access in the major part of the last decade. Importantly, the Internet has become an important mass media source of health information in northern Europe. While the use of the Internet for health information is somewhat less common in the south European countries, its use is also clearly increasing there. We discuss the advantages of cross-study comparisons of data and methodological challenges. As the use of the Internet for health information is likely to peak in some countries in the near future, new population surveys on health information access should focus more on the details of information that is accessed and which sites that are most used and trusted.

Framing in Health Communication: Identifying the Factors That Influence the Re-posting of Social Media Messages during COVID-19 Outbreaks in China (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingzhong Xie ◽  
Jun Lai ◽  
Dongying Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
Negative Binomial ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
Media Messages ◽  
Action Frame

BACKGROUND Social media has become an important tool to implement risk communication in COVID-19 pandemic, and made health information can gain more exposure by re-posting. OBJECTIVE This paper attempts to identify the factors associated with re-posting of social media messages about health information METHODS Content analysis was applied to scrutinize 4396 Weibo posts that were posted by national and provincial public health agencies Weibo accounts and identified features of information sources and information features, and adopted Zero-Inflated Negative Binomial (ZINB) model to analyze the association between these features and the frequency of message being re-posted. RESULTS Results showed that the followers and the governmental level of information sources are correlated with increased message reposting. The information features, such as hashtags#, picture, video, emotional(!), and the usage of severity, reassurance, efficacy and action frame were associated with increased message reposting behaviors, while hyperlink and usage of uncertainty frame correlated with reduced message reposting behaviors. CONCLUSIONS The features of health information sources, structures , style and content should be paid close attention by health organizations and medical professionals to satisfy the public’s information needs and preferences, promote the public's health engagement. Suitable information systems designing, and health communication strategies making during different stages of the pandemic may improve public awareness of the COVID-19, alleviate negative emotions, promote preventive measures to curb the spread of the virus.

scholarly journals Multidimensional Feature Classification of the Health Information Needs of Patients With Hypertension in an Online Health Community Through Analysis of 1000 Patient Question Records: Observational Study

10.2196/17349 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. e17349
Author(s):  
Aijing Luo ◽  
Zirui Xin ◽  
Yifeng Yuan ◽  
Tingxiao Wen ◽  
Wenzhao Xie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Classification System ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Clinical Findings ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Good Doctor ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Symptoms And Signs

Background With the rapid development of online health communities, increasing numbers of patients and families are seeking health information on the internet. Objective This study aimed to discuss how to fully reveal the health information needs expressed by patients with hypertension in their questions in a web-based environment and how to use the internet to help patients with hypertension receive personalized health education. Methods This study randomly selected 1000 text records from the question data of patients with hypertension from 2008 to 2018 collected from Good Doctor Online and constructed a classification system through literature research and content analysis. This paper identified the background characteristics and questioning intention of each patient with hypertension based on the patient’s question and used co-occurrence network analysis and the k-means clustering method to explore the features of the health information needs of patients with hypertension. Results The classification system for the health information needs of patients with hypertension included the following nine dimensions: drugs (355 names), symptoms and signs (395 names), tests and examinations (545 names), demographic data (526 kinds), diseases (80 names), risk factors (37 names), emotions (43 kinds), lifestyles (6 kinds), and questions (49 kinds). There were several characteristics of the explored web-based health information needs of patients with hypertension. First, more than 49% of patients described features, such as drugs, symptoms and signs, tests and examinations, demographic data, and diseases. Second, patients with hypertension were most concerned about treatment (778/1000, 77.80%), followed by diagnosis (323/1000, 32.30%). Third, 65.80% (658/1000) of patients asked physicians several questions at the same time. Moreover, 28.30% (283/1000) of patients were very concerned about how to adjust the medication, and they asked other treatment-related questions at the same time, including drug side effects, whether to take the drugs, how to treat the disease, etc. Furthermore, 17.60% (176/1000) of patients consulted physicians about the causes of clinical findings, including the relationship between the clinical findings and a disease, the treatment of a disease, and medications and examinations. Fourth, by k-means clustering, the questioning intentions of patients with hypertension were classified into the following seven categories: “how to adjust medication,” “what to do,” “how to treat,” “phenomenon explanation,” “test and examination,” “disease diagnosis,” and “disease prognosis.” Conclusions In a web-based environment, the health information needs expressed by Chinese patients with hypertension to physicians are common and distinct, that is, patients with different background features ask relatively common questions to physicians. The classification system constructed in this study can provide guidance to health information service providers for the construction of web-based health resources, as well as guidance for patient education, which could help solve the problem of information asymmetry in communication between physicians and patients.

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