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Exploring the Health Information Seeking Behavior of Older Adults in Urban China: A Phenomenological Study |
Zhao Dongxiang1,2,3, Ma Feicheng1,2, Zhang Qiping3 |
1.School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072 2.Center for Studies of Information Resources, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072 3.Palmer School of Library and Information Science, Long Island University, Brookville 11548 |
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Abstract In the aging society and information age, the health information seeking behavior (HISB) of older adults has become a common social phenomenon that has attracted attention from many research fields and disciplines. However, the previous studies on the HISB of older adults were predominantly quantitative in nature and short on depth and underling details. They were mostly limited to the Internet environment, and therefore overlooked the need to investigate the entire information environment. As an exploratory study, this paper aimed to investigate the HISB of older adults in urban China from the perspective of phenomenology. Five older adults from Wuhan, a provincial capital city in central China, were selected as the sample and semi-structured interviews were used to collect their detailed descriptions and interpretations of HISB in their daily lives. Phenomenological analyses of the following five aspects of older adults’ HISB were conducted: underlying meanings, primary patterns, source preferences, difficulties and challenges, and online HISB. The main findings included the following: (1) The elderly believed that the meaning of HISB primarily lies in disease prevention and control, enjoying life, caring for family members, and reducing the burden on children. Life worlds and health responsibility were viewed as the most important elements of HISB. (2) Active HISB and proactive HISB were the primary patterns for older adults in urban China, and most of them adopted both patterns simultaneously in their daily lives. (3) For older adults, television programs, Internet media, print media, and interpersonal networks were the four most often used sources of health information, while medical institutions/health professionals and authoritative television programs were the two most trusted sources of health information. (4) Self-factors and social support factors hindered health information seeking by the elderly. (5) Although the Internet was not a mainstream channel for older adults to search for health information, it does play an increasingly important role in the health information seeking of older adults in China.
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Received: 25 March 2019
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