Consumer health information-seeking: Strategies and perspectives of people with chronic illness

Abstract

This presentation is based on interview data from a quantitative and qualitative research project exploring the use of print- and internet-based information sources by people with hepatitis C. Traditional modes of information provision within clinical encounters have been altered by public internet access to resources and information that were previously accessed almost exclusively by health professionals. A national online survey was conducted to discover how people with hepatitis C used the internet to seek information relating to their illness and how they then made use of this information. Those who responded to the survey were asked to volunteer for a follow-up, face-to-face, semi-structured interview. Twenty people, from the Australian states of New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia, were interviewed. Findings indicate that there is a need for greater understanding among medical and information professionals of lay capacities to collect, understand and act upon information from the internet. Unlike people who use the internet for occasional health information, many people with chronic illness develop, over time, complex strategies for accessing, evaluating and applying online information.