ERIC Number: EJ1104643
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Jul
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1368-1613
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
An Examination of the Health Information Seeking Experiences of Women in Rural Ontario, Canada
Wathen, C. Nadine; Harris, Roma M.
Information Research: An International Electronic Journal, v11 n4 Jul 2006
Introduction: Women are active information seekers, particularly in the context of managing health for themselves and their families. Rural living may present particular challenges and opportunities for women in their health information seeking. Method: Forty women living in a rural part of Ontario, Canada were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. They were asked about their health information seeking for both chronic and acute concerns. Analysis: Interview transcripts were organized using NVivo software (version 6) and analysed using a coding scheme iteratively developed by both authors. Results: Emerging themes included--the context of rural living, information and health literacy, the role of unanticipated information intermediaries in the search process, and the mis-match between assumptions made by the system about sources of information, and women's lived realities. Conclusions: There are unique challenges and enablers to health information seeking for women living in rural areas, including the role of formal, informal and ICT-based information intermediaries, the availability to women of required literacies for health information seeking and uptake. Research findings such as those presented in this paper can assist in better understanding both the contexts of information seeking, as well as the preferences and behaviour of those with information needs.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Information Seeking, Health, Females, Rural Areas, Semi Structured Interviews, Statistical Analysis, Coding, Information Literacy, Information Sources, Information Technology, Access to Information, Preferences, Adults, Internet, Context Effect
Thomas D. Wilson. 9 Broomfield Road, Broomhill, Sheffield, S10 2SE, UK. Web site: http://informationr.net/ir
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A