Indirect effects of contextual factors on patients’ consultations with healthcare professionals about health information found online

Abstract

BackgroundE-health users are encouraged to consult healthcare professionals about the health information they found online because it facilitates e-health users to participate in an informed decision-making process with healthcare professionals on treatment options. However, few studies have examined the path of how e-health users consult healthcare professionals about the health information. Using psychological empowerment, which claims that empowering individuals requires understanding contextual factors that interact with the individuals’ intrapsychic factors, this study tested a hypothesis: the contextual factors play an indirect role between patients’ perceived poor health and their consultations with healthcare professionals about the health information found online, holding predisposing factors constant.MethodsThe data were collected from the Health Information National Trends Survey and used a subsample of e-health users who used healthcare services during the past year. The subsample (N = 2,297) was analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM).ResultsThe SEM analysis supported the hypothesized indirect model. Meanwhile, patients with low socioeconomic statuses tended to score high in the outcome measurement of the contextual factors; however, they tended not to consult professionals.ConclusionsIt is important to acknowledge contextual factors, which encompass communication and relational aspects as well as the process and outcomes of treatments, when empowering e-health users to use e-health tools meaningfully and become empowered in caring for their own health. Particularly, those with low income and education levels were the less powered or powerless patients: they tended not to be competent in having a voice and discussing the health information that they found online with professionals.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-016-1713-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The ability to obtain, appraise and understand health information among undergraduate nursing students in a medical university in Chongqing, China

“…When patients receive insufficient information to participate in decisions regarding their care, it limits the extent of their participation and thwarts early recovery. Healthcare professionals play a critical role in helping patients obtain and understand health information (Yeo, ). In addition, nursing professionals are often viewed as “communication brokers” between doctors and patients and are required to translate “medical language” into “everyday language” for patients (Bourhis, Roth, & Macqueen, ).…”

The Limits of Empowerment: How to Reframe the Role of mHealth Tools in the Healthcare Ecosystem

“…Constraints on the actions triggered by people's digital medical gaze can be related to their gender, race (Lewis 2006), income and education levels (Yeo 2016), confidence in digital and health literacy skills (Schaffler et al 2018), or, most likely, a combination of all of these factors. 14 This is because mHealth tools do not operate in a vacuum.…”

Informações on-line como suporte às famílias de crianças e adolescentes com doença crônica

“…It also gives people the confidence to talk and question health workers about findings (13) . These benefits create the initial conditions to transform the relationship between medical professionals and users or caregivers, without reducing the authority, social prestige, and knowledge of these professionals (1,29) . Communication and information technologies are believed to contribute to the success of a health system (17) and lead to the emergence of a new model of care in which individuals take control of their health by connecting with online communities and support networks (3) .…”

“…The dynamism of the internet provides a flow of simultaneous communication and becomes an instrument of support to caregivers in decision making and reduces family stress, which only benefits the child and/or adolescent (18,(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30) . In addition to the content available on the internet and online services, in order to cope with the chronic condition, parents, children, and adolescents use applications that focus on the specific pathology (14,16,(19)(20)(21)(22) .…”