Cancer patients’ information seeking behavior related to online electronic healthcare records

Patients’ online access to their EHR together with the rapid proliferation of medical information on the Internet has changed how patients use information to learn about their health. Patients’ tendency to turn to the Internet to find information about their health and care is well-documented. However, little is known about patients’ information seeking behavior when using online EHRs. By using information horizons as an analytical tool this paper aims to investigate the information behavior of cancer patients who have chosen to view their EHRs (readers) and to those who have not made that option (non-readers). Thirty interviews were conducted with patients. Based on information horizons, it seems that non-reading is associated with living in a narrower information world in comparison to readers. The findings do not suggest that the smallness would be a result of active avoidance of information, or that it would be counterproductive for the patients. The findings suggest, however, that EHRs would benefit from comprehensive linking to authoritative health information sources to help users to understand their contents. In parallel, healthcare professionals should be more aware of their personal role as a key source of health information to those who choose not to read their EHRs.

Health information-seeking behavior in the time of COVID-19: information horizons methodology to decipher source path during a global pandemic

PurposeTo determine the differences, as represented by information horizons mapping, in the health information-seeking behavior from a group of participants between March 2019 and April 2020 of the novel coronavirus pandemic.Design/methodology/approachIn March 2019, the author conducted a study on health information-seeking behavior in which 149 participants drew information horizons maps in a health-related context. They also took health and information literacy assessments. This exact study was replicated using the same population in April 2020 to determine the differences in what the participants drew on their maps and how these changes interacted with their health and information literacy, their age and their education.FindingsThere is a statistically significant difference in the increased number of sources and the ranked quality of the sources that people used during the pandemic. Participants were much more likely to use credible sources and news sources, especially if they were older, more educated and had higher literacy levels – both health and information. They also relied heavily on social media. The participant group in the pandemic had a much heavier reliance on sources that are often used in a passive encountering way but engaging with them in an active information-seeking manner. The health information-seeking behavior in this study did not adhere to other research that found issue with information overload, avoidance and cyberchondria in response to crisis situations.Originality/valueThis article utilizes information horizons methodology to explore pre- and post-pandemic information-seeking. It is completely unique in this approach.

Information Horizons Mapping is Related to Other Measures of Health Literacy but Not Information Literacy

A Review of: Zimmerman, M.S. (2020). Mapping literacies: Comparing information horizons mapping to measures of information and health literacy. Journal of Documentation, 76(2), 531–551. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-05-2019-0090 Abstract Objective – To evaluate information horizons mapping as a valid measure for assessing information literacy and health literacy compared to three validated information and health literacy measurements and level of educational attainment. Design – Quantitative data analysis using multiple regression and the Anker, Reinhart, and Feeley model as the conceptual framework. Setting – A small university-centered community in Iowa City. Subjects – 149 members of the university community. Methods – The author conducted a power analysis to determine a minimum sample size required for maintaining study validity and selected the Anker Model of conceptual framing for health information-seeking behavior. This is a three-phased model that explores the information seeker’s predisposing characteristics, engagement in health information seeking, and outcomes associated with information seeking. Recruited participants completed three assessments—the Tool for Real-time Assessment of Information Literacy Skills (TRAILS), the Health Literacy Skills Instrument (HLSI), and the Brief Health Literacy Screen (BHLS)—and drew information horizon maps illustrating what sources of information they tend to seek for health-related questions. The author calculated information horizon map results using a scoring system incorporating the number and quality of information sources identified in the maps and applied multiple linear regression analysis and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient to participants’ scores from all four assessments as well as their level of educational attainment to determine strengths of relationships between variables. Main Results – In the information horizons map results, participants identified an average of 6.9 information sources with a range of 3–13 and received an average score of 18.8 in information source quality with a range of 4–45. The author applied multiple linear regression to predict the number of information source counts on the information horizons map based on HLSI, TRAILS, and BHLS assessment scores and level of educational attainment and found a significant relationship (p=0.044). A significant relationship also existed between quality of source scores on the map based on HLSI, TRAILS, and BHLS assessment scores and level of educational attainment (p=0.033). Removing the educational attainment variable produced an even stronger significant result. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient supported the findings of the multiple regression analysis and revealed a strong relationship between source count and scores on the BHLS (r=0.87) and HLSI (r=71) but a weak relationship between source counts and TRAILS score and level of educational attainment. Source quality had a weak relationship with BHLS scores (r=0.24), a moderate relationship with the HLSI scores (r=0.50), and a weak relationship with TRAILS scores and educational attainment. Conclusions – The data analysis suggests a significant relationship between information horizons mapping and health literacy but not information literacy or level of educational attainment. This data supports findings from the author’s previous research examining the relationship between information horizon maps and information literacy scores for refugee and immigrant women. It also suggests that information horizons mapping may facilitate storytelling that reflects the complexity of participants’ health literacy ability and may introduce the potential to assess low-literacy level populations. More research is needed to examine the quality and complexity produced in information horizons maps. This methodology may be applied to investigate better techniques for assessing the health literacy levels among populations that struggle with prose-based assessments.

The mapping of information landscapes as a tool to develop IL

In her discussion of information literacy, Annemaree Lloyd (2010) developed the notion of the information landscape as a way of conceptualising the informational and technological resources arrayed around individuals and groups, and which they must learn to navigate. She alludes (p. 2) to the idea of mapping this landscape as a way by which actors learn these navigational skills and, thus, develop information literacy. But she offers no detail in this work or others regarding what mapping might actually mean as an educational practice, and how it might be employed in the teaching and learning of information literacy. This paper will report on research conducted on data generated in different ways from a course in which mapping is integrated, as both a graphical and discursive practice. At the start of this course, students are asked to collaborate on drawing mind maps that depict their information landscape as they see it at this point, and these maps can be analysed as depictions of their information horizons, in ways similar to the study of Sonnenwald, Wildemuth and Harmon (2001). In addition, data have been generated from online discussions undertaken throughout the course, which record how within small groups, students negotiate and build the information landscape that they use to complete the course assessment. By suggesting and/or validating the judgments of members, the group develops an agreed-upon representation of their landscape that can be the basis for further judgments. Thus, from the dialogue emerges a discursive map of this landscape. It will be argued that the process of negotiating this map is a productive one when considering how information literacy sklills can be developed in ways that will transfer effectively outside the university.

Mapping literacies

Purpose Information literacy and health literacy skills are positively correlated with indicators of quality of life. Assessing these literacies, however, can be daunting – particularly with people that may not respond well to prose-based tools. The purpose of this paper is to use information horizons methodology as a metric that may be reflective of literacies. Design/methodology/approach Following a power analysis to insure statistical significance, a sample of 161 participants was recruited from a university population and given formal, vetted measures of information literacy and health literacy and then was asked to create an information horizons map within a health-related context. The information horizons maps were evaluated in two different ways. First, the number of sources was counted. Then, the quality of sources was factored in. Multiple regression analysis was applied to both metrics as independent variables with the other assessments as dependent variables. Anker, Reinhart, and Feeley’s model provided the conceptual framework for the study. Findings Information horizons mapping was not found to have a significant relationship with measures of information literacy. However, there were strong, statistically significant relationships with the measures of health literacy employed in this study. Originality/value Employing information horizons methodology as a means of providing a metric to assess literacies may be helpful in providing a more complete picture of a person’s abilities. While the current assessment tools have value, this method has the potential to provide important information about the health literacy of people who are not traditionally well represented by prose-based measures.

Social Project Planning in the Continuing Education System of the University

The implementation of social projects is an increasingly popular and effective practice. The subjects of all age groups can be their target audience: from preschoolers who want to promote their creative potential, young people focused on professional self-determination to middle age persons taking interest in the expansion of their information horizons and opportunities of older people who want to address gaps in knowledge in order to adapt to social and technical changes. The paper deals with the problem of andragogic education as a factor of adaptation and socialization of older people who feel fear and uncertainty in the world that is shifting to the common usage of information technology. The purpose of the paper is analysis and description of the process of educational support with the use of social project planning of a vulnerable group of older people. The novelty is practical results obtained on the base of a pedagogical university when implementing socially oriented projects on the generation of computer literacy in older people. The “Available environment: computer literacy improvement” course allows this social group not only to adapt to ever-changing conditions of life but also contributes to their spiritual and physical longevity, social activity and improvement of the quality of life in general. The results and effectiveness of the social project are evaluated using questioning, interview, and observation before and after delivered lessons. The assessment criteria were formed and subjected to adjustment in the course of project implementation and are based on quantity and quality factors. The main criterion was the students’ formed steady motivation to further independent use of the computer, development of computer skills and practical use. Further demand of the course and findings allowed stating the achievement of set goals.

Social Project Planning in the Continuing Education System of the University.

The implementation of social projects is an increasingly popular and effective practice. The subjects of all age groups can be their target audience: from preschoolers who want to promote their creative potential, young people focused on professional self-determination to middle age persons taking interest in the expansion of their information horizons and opportunities of older people who want to address gaps in knowledge in order to adapt to social and technical changes. The paper deals with the problem of andragogic education as a factor of adaptation and socialization of older people who feel fear and uncertainty in the world that is shifting to the common usage of information technology. The purpose of the paper is analysis and description of the process of educational support with the use of social project planning of a vulnerable group of older people. The novelty is practical results obtained on the base of a pedagogical university when implementing socially oriented projects on the generation of computer literacy in older people. The “Available environment: computer literacy improvement” course allows this social group not only to adapt to ever-changing conditions of life but also contributes to their spiritual and physical longevity, social activity and improvement of the quality of life in general. The results and effectiveness of the social project are evaluated using questioning, interview, and observation before and after delivered lessons. The assessment criteria were formed and subjected to adjustment in the course of project implementation and are based on quantity and quality factors. The main criterion was the students’ formed steady motivation to further independent use of the computer, development of computer skills and practical use. Further demand of the course and findings allowed stating the achievement of set goals.