An ecological model of health information acquisition on the Internet

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Josipa Basic

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The present study aims 1) to determine online information acquisition practices in which college students acquire health-related information, health topics they are interested in and online tools they use to acquire health information, 2) to propose a theoretical framework based upon Williamson's ecological model (1998), Longo's health information model (2009; 2010), and previous empirical studies, 3) to examine contextual variables associated with college students' health information acquisition, and 4) to encourage discussion about improvements in communication of health information, health promotion and e-health literacy education of college population. The data collected through an online questionnaire was analyzed using various statistical analyses. The study found that found that students acquire health information in both intentional and opportunistic manner, with intentional being more common. There is a difference in topics they obtain in each of these two information manners. Students use search engines when intentionally searching for health information and opportunistically discover information while using social media. Both intentional and unintentional acquisition of health information was found to be significantly associated with gender, enrollment in healthrelated class, level of physical exercise, and the frequency of overall ODI. Health status was also significant in combination with satisfaction with social life, enrollment in health class and gender for intentional searching for health information. The theoretical framework proposed in the study is the first one so far to take a holistic approach to empirical investigation of undergraduate college students' health information acquisition behavior, by exploring both intentional and opportunistic acquisition practices and well as acquiring information for self and other people.

Author(s):  
Anna Ibañez Cantí

Meaning is encoded in the production and decoded by the audience during the consumption, which is why it is a process of constant feedback. Each person experiences meaningful connotations in relation to their favourite music, hence music occupies a particular position in each one’s life and within the cultural life of particular individuals and groups.   Music meaning and emotion has been studied by David Carr (2004), who wonders if emotion is intrinsic in music, or if it is a symbolic representation – or rather if emotions are projected from the listener onto the music. Like Akio Morita (the co-founder of Sony, and the person behind Sony Walkman), Jean Baudrillard argues that meaning does not reside in an object but in how that object is used (Du Gay et al. 1997, 90). Is there a relation between what music means to an individual and his/her preference for a particular genre?   The methodological approach is mainly qualitative. I have analysed 215 responses to an online questionnaire, and followed this with an analysis of 8 semi-structured in-depth interviews. I seek to comprehend the space that music occupies in the net of relationships that constitute culture, and to discover the mechanisms of taste configuration in relation to music-meaning within a holistic approach, encompassing the circuit of culture as a theoretical framework.  


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmood Khosrowjerdi ◽  
Anneli Sundqvist

Health information is a frequent subject for online information seeking. Research on the phenomenon has to a certain extent included students. This review, based on an analysis of 61 articles, shows the current state of the art of research on students’ trust in online health information. The review covers methodological approaches and findings of previous previous empirical studies: research design; trustworthy health information sources; credibility assessment; and factors impacting on trust formation. The analysis of research designs reveals that the survey method was most frequent, but small qualitative studies were also occurring. More than half of the studies were administered in the USA, while only a smaller part concerned ‘non-Western’ countries. Female subjects were more frequent than male.The concept of trust was not always explicitly defined in the studies. The students' actual propensity to use internet was generally taken as an expression of trust. The antecedents of trust identified in the studies can be summarized as the perceived quality of the information, the perceived credibility of the source or source provider, the users’ general inclination to trust, the actual use of information, and the perceived intelligibility of the information. The findings show that Internet was among the main sources for health information, but parents or other family members, friends, schools, health professionals were also frequent sources of health information, and students were not immediately accepting online information as trustworthy. The students’ trust and credibility judgments were influenced by social and demographic, cultural, psychological, knowledge and skills-related, and source, system and content-related factors. Governmental and organizational websites were reported as the most trustful sources, although some issues regarding website features and presentation of content were reported as barriers. Easy access were of importance for using a particular resource, but there seemed to be a learning effect impacting on seeking behaviour and trust formation. 


Author(s):  
Mitja Vrdelja ◽  
Sanja Vrbovšek ◽  
Vito Klopčič ◽  
Kevin Dadaczynski ◽  
Orkan Okan

The entire world is faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, which is also accompanied by an infodemic. This refers to the rapid spread of (accurate and false) information, mainly through internet usage increasing. Digital health literacy (DHL) is therefore important for addressing challenges related to online health information and services, as well as for navigation through the complex information landscape with huge amounts of different (and conflicting) information about COVID-19. The aim of this study is to examine the level of DHL in relation to COVID-19 in Slovenian university students and to determine online information-seeking behaviour in order to plan and prepare effective communication interventions for this sub-population. A cross-sectional survey, administered by an online questionnaire, was conducted to collect data on DHL. A total of 3621 students participated, of whom 70% were female and the average age was 22.65 years (SD = 4.65). Bivariate analyses were performed to assess the association of key characteristics with DHL. Overall, the results show that the level of DHL among students is sufficient. Most difficulties were reported in assessing the reliability of information (n = 1484, 49.3%). Approximately one third of the students (n = 847, 27.9%) reported having problems in finding information of their interest, and somewhat more (n = 900, 29.6%) reported difficulties in making a selection among all the information found. Students with a sufficient level of DHL are more likely to seek information through search engines and websites of official institutions, while students with a limited level of DHL more frequently reported using social media for health information searches. It is necessary to establish interventions for a systematic lift of the DHL and health literacy (HL) of all population groups.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng Jiang ◽  
Jin Huang ◽  
Meicun Zhao ◽  
Rong Xu

BACKGROUND The rapid development of the Internet has been providing more convenient information services for patients with diabetes mellitus and more and more patients choose to obtain diabetes-related information through the Internet. The different quality of health information on the Internet often makes it difficult for patients to obtain real and effective information. OBJECTIVE To further understand the cognition and experience of patients with DM to obtain health information through the Internet. METHODS Objective sampling method was adopted to select patients with DM in a grade 3A hospital in Changsha from August to September, 2020. Phenomenological research method in qualitative research was used to conduct semi-structured interviews. Colaizzi seven-step analysis was used to analyze the interview data and extract the topics. RESULTS A total of 13 patients were interviewed in this study. The cognition and experience of patients with DM on access to online health information can be divided into three major themes and seven sub-themes: (1) motivations for Internet information acquisition, which include perceived information does not match demands and finding the experience of others; (2) Internet Information acquisition requirements, including acquiring knowledge related to DM and obtaining information efficiently; and (3) obstacles to online information access, including doubt the authenticity of network information, difficult to judge the true or false information and limited eHealth literacy. CONCLUSIONS This study shows that there are both facilitating factors and impeding factors in patients’ accessing diabetes-related information on the Internet, which suggests that medical staffs should guide patients to obtain real and effective health information, the government should strengthen the construction of health websites to enhance patients’ experience of obtaining online health information to make better use of the advantages of the Internet.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaobin Yin ◽  
Jianguang Ji ◽  
Peng Lu ◽  
Wenyao Zhong ◽  
Liying Sun ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND With online health information becoming increasingly popular among patients and their family members, concerns have been raised about the accuracy from the websites. OBJECTIVE We aimed to evaluate the overall quality of the online information about scaphoid fracture obtained from Chinese websites using the local search engines. METHODS We conducted an online search using the keyword “scaphoid fracture” from the top 5 search engines in China, i.e. Baidu, Shenma, Haosou, Sougou and Bing, and gathered the top ranked websites, which included a total of 120 websites. Among them, 81 websites were kept for further analyses by removing duplicated and unrelated one as well as websites requiring payment. These websites were classified into four categories, including forum/social networks, commercials, academics and physician’s personals. Health information evaluation tool DISCERN and Scaphoid Fracture Specific Content Score (SFSCS) were used to assess the quality of the websites. RESULTS Among the 81 Chinese websites that we studied, commercial websites were the most common one accounting more than half of all websites. The mean DISCERN score of the 81 websites was 25.56 and no website had a score A (ranging from 64 to 80).The mean SFSCS score was 10.04 and no website had a score A (range between 24 and 30). In addition, DISCERN and SFSCS scores from academic and physician’s websites were significantly higher than those from the forum/social networks and commercials. CONCLUSIONS The overall quality of health information obtained from Chinese websites about scaphoid fracture was very low, suggesting that patients and their family members should be aware such deficiency and pay special attentions for the medical information obtained by using the current search engines in China.


Author(s):  
Ron Avi Astor ◽  
Rami Benbenisthty

Since 2005, the bullying, school violence, and school safety literatures have expanded dramatically in content, disciplines, and empirical studies. However, with this massive expansion of research, there is also a surprising lack of theoretical and empirical direction to guide efforts on how to advance our basic science and practical applications of this growing scientific area of interest. Parallel to this surge in interest, cultural norms, media coverage, and policies to address school safety and bullying have evolved at a remarkably quick pace over the past 13 years. For example, behaviors and populations that just a decade ago were not included in the school violence, bullying, and school safety discourse are now accepted areas of inquiry. These include, for instance, cyberbullying, sexting, social media shaming, teacher–student and student–teacher bullying, sexual harassment and assault, homicide, and suicide. Populations in schools not previously explored, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer students and educators and military- and veteran-connected students, become the foci of new research, policies, and programs. As a result, all US states and most industrialized countries now have a complex quilt of new school safety and bullying legislation and policies. Large-scale research and intervention funding programs are often linked to these policies. This book suggests an empirically driven unifying model that brings together these previously distinct literatures. This book presents an ecological model of school violence, bullying, and safety in evolving contexts that integrates all we have learned in the 13 years, and suggests ways to move forward.


Author(s):  
Gizell Green ◽  
Riki Tesler ◽  
Cochava Sharon

The Internet and social media are crucial platforms for health information. Factors such as the efficiency of online health information, the outcomes of seeking online health information and the awareness of reliable sources have become increasingly important for the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to examine differences between elderly individuals’ income above and below the average monthly wage in relation to their online health information efficiency and the outcomes of seeking online health information; to evaluate types of online information sources with online health information efficiency and the outcomes of seeking online health information; and to explore online health information efficiency as a mediator between health status and awareness of online sources. A cross-sectional study design was conducted with 336 elderly participants age 65 or older. The participants volunteered to complete a questionnaire. No differences were found between the two groups regarding efficiency in retrieving health information from official online health sites and Google. Perceived efficiency mediated health status and awareness of online sources. In these challenging times, it is important to provide a tailor-made education strategy plan for reliable sources of online health information for the elderly, in order to enhance their technology safety skills. It is also important to explore other mediating variables between health status and awareness of online sources.


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