Online Health Information Seeking among Older Adults and Barriers to Communication

• In Event: 540 - Section on Science, Knowledge, and Technology Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 05. Technology/Innovation

Abstract

The Internet has become an important resource for health information. However, scholarly research has pointed to a number of potential problems associated with online health information seeking (OHIS), particularly for older adults. This qualitative evaluation explored the perspectives of a sample of adults 50 years old and over from Toronto, Canada to 1) identify their concerns, 2) compare differences between respondents who talked with doctors about OHIS and those who did not and 3) to examine barriers to communication. Analyses of semi-structured interviews indicated that respondents who communicated with their doctor about OHIS were able to identify a wider range of potential problems compared to respondents who did not communicate with their doctors about their OHIS. The largest proportion of responses among participants who communicated with their doctors related to the concern that online health searches can be problematic due to mistaken information, while non-communicators had the highest proportion of responses indicating that OHIS can stir up conflict. Four themes emerged as barriers to communication among respondents who did not talk with their doctors about OHIS: Lack of thorough understanding of online information creates doubt and possible embarrassment, The doctor doesn’t want to hear about it, If it matters I just do it, and I forget to bring it up. Findings highlight the perspective of a sample of older adults on potential problems associated with using the Internet for health-related information and suggest that doctors to ought to engage older patients in conversations about OHIS.

Author

• Michelle Pannor Silver, University of Toronto