Examining Health Information–Seeking Behaviors of Older Adults

Abstract

This study aims to examine which resources older adults utilize for their health information needs, how trustworthy and reliable they find these resources, and the difficulties they face in obtaining health-related information. A 41-item survey designed to understand the information-seeking characteristics of older adults was developed and distributed to retirement communities. Some items were taken from the Health Information National Trends Survey. Of 1520 surveys, 403 were returned completed (26.6%). Respondents’ mean age was 77.65 years. Average scores indicated respondents trusted particular sources of health information in the following order (highest to lowest): health care providers, pharmacists, friends and relatives, retirement community staff, newspapers, the Internet, television, and the radio. In conclusion, older adults have a greater amount of trust in a person with whom they are able to actively discuss their health as opposed to a nonliving source, which they have to access or manipulate, such as the Internet. Efforts must be made to help older adults better navigate and utilize the Internet and recognize dependable online sources so that they may increase their trust in its use, thereby increasing satisfaction with their own ability to seek and use sources of health information.

Identifying Community Perspectives for a Lung Cancer Screening Awareness Campaign in Appalachia Kentucky: The Terminate Lung Cancer (TLC) Study

“…Prior research has also shown that older rural adults, who sometimes lack family members of similar age and with similar health experiences, often rely on friends as a primary source of health information [15]. This reliance on family, friends, and – perhaps most importantly – health professionals, may reflect a tendency by older adults to place greater amount of trust in a person with whom they are able to actively discuss their health as opposed to a nonliving source [16]. …”

Acceptance and use of health information technology by community-dwelling elders

“…From a list of a number of potential information sources, the Internet was ranked as the third least reliable, behind an assortment of clinical and non-clinical human information sources and newspapers and ahead of only television and radio. (64) While trust in the Internet for health information increased with familiarity, older adults were still less likely to trust the Internet,(65) and the importance of trust in Internet health information adoption increases with age. (66) Unfortunately, mistrust of health information from Internet sources is justified: evaluation of information found online reveals much inaccurate or irrelevant medical information.…”

Health information sources: trust and satisfaction

“…[ [9][10][11][12][13] In fact, the Internet has also been listed elsewhere as one of the major contemporary health information sources. [15] Furthermore, it has been argued that the reason that the Internet is preferred over other traditional sources (i.e.…”

“…[11] In the context of health communication, trust is an important aspect for someone receiving a health-related message and actually taking action based upon that information. In a recent study, [12] it was reported that older adults trusted actual people more than non-living sources when seeking out health information; their highest level of trust reportedly placed in healthcare providers and their lowest in radio, respectively. According to the majority of the participants in another study, [13] health providers were also considered as their main source of health information.…”