Somebody Google a Doctor! Urgent Health Information Seeking Habits of Young Adults

Cain, J.; Armstrong, Cory L.; Hou, Jue

doi:10.29333/ojcmt/7853

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Determining effective modalities to address food insecurity in younger disadvantaged populations, such as college students, continues to be a public health concern. Literature indicates that younger populations increasingly look toward the internet as a trusted resource for health information compared to traditional media [ 40 , 41 ]. However, common difficulties associated with accessing health-related information include determining reliability and the ability to find information of interest [ 42 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Web-Based Tool Designed to Encourage Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Use in Urban College Students: Usability Testing Study

Li,

Platkin,

Chin

et al. 2024

JMIR Form Res

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Background Food insecurity continues to be a risk for college students in the United States. It is associated with numerous problems, such as chronic health conditions, increased stress and anxiety, and a lower grade point average. After COVID-19, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits were extended to college-aged students; however, there were some barriers to participation, which persisted such as lack of perceived food insecurity risk, lack of knowledge regarding the SNAP application process, the complexity of determining eligibility, and stigma associated with needing social assistance. A technology-enhanced tool was developed to address these barriers to SNAP enrollment and encourage at-risk college students to apply for SNAP. Objective The purpose of this study was to test the usability and acceptability of a web-based SNAP screening tool designed for college-aged students. Methods College students aged 18-25 years were recruited to participate in 2 rounds of usability testing during fall 2022. Participants tested the prototype of a web-based SNAP screener tool using a standardized think-aloud method. The usability and acceptability of the tool were assessed using a semistructured interview and a 10-item validated System Usability Scale questionnaire. Audio recordings and field notes were systematically reviewed by extracting and sorting feedback as positive or negative comments. System Usability Scale questionnaire data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed rank test and sign test. Results A total of 12 students (mean age 21.8, SD 2.8 years; n=6, 50% undergraduate; n=11, 92% female; n=7, 58% Hispanic or Black or African American; n=9, 78% low or very low food security) participated in both rounds of user testing. Round 1 testing highlighted overall positive experiences with the tool, with most participants (10/12) stating that the website fulfills its primary objective as a support tool to encourage college students to apply for SNAP. However, issues related to user interface design, navigation, and wording of some questions in the screening tool were noted. Key changes after round 1 reflected these concerns, including improved design of response buttons and tool logo and improved clarity of screening questions. The overall system usability showed slight, but not statistically significant, improvement between round 1 and round 2 (91.25 vs 92.50; P =.10, respectively). Conclusions Overall usability findings suggest that this web-based tool was highly usable and acceptable to urban college students and could be an effective and appealing approach as a support tool to introduce college students to the SNAP application process. The findings from this study will inform further development of the tool, which could eventually be disseminated publicly among various college campuses.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Web-Based Tool Designed to Encourage Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Use in Urban College Students: Usability Testing Study

Li,

Platkin,

Chin

et al. 2024

JMIR Form Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In their study, a positive significant correlation was found between the time spent watching the news on COVID-19 and nervousness and anxiety levels. On the other hand, in terms of the credibility of mass media, Cain et al (2020) found that credibility still plays a significant role in considering information sources. Likewise, Sakharova et al (2020) stated that student groups, who regularly use digital media in their daily lives, also find the mass media trustworthy in order to obtain information.…”

Section: Information Seeking Behaviour and Covid-19 Pandemicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traditional Media at the Beginning of the Unknown

NARİN¹,

EĞİNLİ²,

Deviren³

2023

gmd

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The purpose of this research is to find how TV news programs, as part of traditional media source, supply the needs of public within the uncertainty management theory and information-seeking scope during the initial phase of COVID-19 pandemic. A thematic analysis of first four streaming of each TV news programs with the first four highest ratings between March 18th and May 1th 2020 in Turkey was chosen for this study. This period was chosen because it was the first peak of the pandemic in Turkey when people felt uncertain and needed more information about their health. The results have shown that the uncertainty and information gaps have also been reflected in TV programs including the information provided by the experts. This study also reveals that in cases which concern public health, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional media continues to play a significant role in meeting the information needs of the society, and that the traditional media also uses social media’s speed in conveying information. We suggest that future studies may focus on the interaction of traditional media and social media in meeting information-seeking behaviours and managing uncertainty to acquire more data.

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Web-Based Tool Designed to Encourage Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Use in Urban College Students: Usability Testing Study (Preprint)

Li¹,

Khan²,

Speck³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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BACKGROUND Food insecurity continues to be a risk for college students in the United States. It is associated with numerous problems, such as chronic health conditions, increased stress and anxiety, and lower grade point average. After COVID-19, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits were extended to college-age students, however there were some barriers to participation which persisted such as lack of perceived food insecurity risk, lack of knowledge regarding the SNAP application process, the complexity of determining eligibility, and stigma associated with needing social assistance. A technology-enhanced tool was developed to address these barriers to SNAP enrollment and encourage at-risk college students to apply for SNAP. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to test the usability and acceptability of a web-based SNAP screening tool designed for college-aged students. METHODS College students ages 18-25 years were recruited to participate in two rounds of usability testing during Fall 2022. Participants tested the prototype of a web-based SNAP screener tool using a standardized think-aloud method. Usability and acceptability of the tool was assessed using a semi-structured interview and a 10-item validated System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire. Audio recordings and field notes were systematically reviewed by extracting and sorting feedback as positive or negative comments. SUS questionnaire data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and sign test. RESULTS A total of 12 students (mean age 21.8 (SD 2.8) years; 50% undergraduate; 92% female; 58% Hispanic or Black/African American; 78% low/very low food security) participated in both rounds of user testing. Round 1 (R1) testing highlighted overall positive experiences with the tool, with most participants (10/12) stating that the website fulfills its primary objective as a support tool to encourage college students to apply for SNAP. However, issues related to user interface design, navigation and wording of some questions in the screening tool were noted. Key changes after R1 reflected these concerns, including improved design of response buttons and tool logo, and improved clarity of screening questions. Overall system usability tended to improve between R1 and R2 (91.25 vs 92.50; P=0.10, respectively). A trend towards increased learnability was also observed between both rounds (87.50 vs 100; P=0.06, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Overall usability findings suggest this web-based tool was highly usable and acceptable to urban college students, and could be an effective and appealing approach as a support tool to introduce college students to the SNAP application process. Findings from this study will inform further development of the tool, which could eventually be disseminated publicly among various college campuses.

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Somebody Google a Doctor! Urgent Health Information Seeking Habits of Young Adults

Cited by 3 publications

References 34 publications

Web-Based Tool Designed to Encourage Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Use in Urban College Students: Usability Testing Study

Web-Based Tool Designed to Encourage Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Use in Urban College Students: Usability Testing Study

Traditional Media at the Beginning of the Unknown

Web-Based Tool Designed to Encourage Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Use in Urban College Students: Usability Testing Study (Preprint)

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