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Tracking Health Information Sources and Care Decisions of Participants in a University Health Plan: Study Design and Preliminary Results

Donald O. Case and James E. Andrews

Presented at ASIST 2004 Annual Meeting; "Managing and Enhancing Information: Cultures and Conflicts" (ASIST AM 04), Providence, Rhode Island, November 13 - 18, 2004


Abstract

The efforts of a university-based health plan to better understand the health care decisions and information sources of their clientele enable us to investigate health-related information seeking and the influence of the Internet on such seeking. The authors are members of a team collecting and analyzing data from an ongoing series of surveys of health plan participants aimed at assessing their “health literacy” and decision-making. Beginning in March of 2004, up to several thousand participants will complete web-based surveys about a number of topics relevant to health care. The topics addressed include: factors considered in choosing a group health plan, sources of information about health problems, decisions to seek treatment for a health concern, and interest in genetic testing. The investigation follows earlier work conducted by the authors (and others) on sources of information about genetic testing. In the earlier study we found that a majority (among a sample of 882), would go first to the Internet for information about genetic testing. We theorized that the availability of web pages, discussion groups and email sources had changed the long-standing tendency of people to turn first to relatives, friends and neighbors for health-related information (i.e, the traditional “two-step flow”). The availability of a new survey population will enable us to refine our questions and test hypotheses about information seeking on health-related matters. We expect to receive the first responses by summer of 2004, with analyses complete by the time of the ASIST conference in November.


  
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