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1 – 10 of over 2000
Article
Publication date: 4 November 2022

Basil Alzougool

This study aims to examine the eHealth literacy level among online health consumers (OHC) in Jordan and identified variables predicting their eHealth literacy level as well.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the eHealth literacy level among online health consumers (OHC) in Jordan and identified variables predicting their eHealth literacy level as well.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative study was conducted to achieve the study objectives. A purposeful sample of 262 OHC completed an electronic version of the eHealth literacy scale (eHEALS). eHEALS is the most cited scale in the literature, which includes eight items (measured on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree).

Findings

Results showed that OHC in Jordan had a moderate level of overall eHealth literacy. Specifically, the eHEALS formed two conceptually sound factors. Gender, occupation, perceived usefulness and perceived importance of the internet, and more frequent online health information seeking were significant positive predictors of overall eHealth literacy and/or its two identified dimensions.

Research limitations/implications

This study represents a humble contribution to the field. Several recommendations were suggested to maintain and improve eHealth literacy among OHC in Jordan.

Originality/value

The internet has changed the landscape of health information. There is an increase in the provision and availability of health information to all users. OHC should be skillful in locating, using and evaluating online health information. Although many researchers have increasingly studied the concept of eHealth literacy among various groups in the past decade, little research has been devoted to focus on eHealth literacy among OHC, particularly in Jordan.

Details

Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9342

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 August 2023

Saira Hanif Soroya, Adeel Ur Rehman and Anthony Faiola

Quality of life is dependent on a healthy lifestyle and the self-care behavior of individuals. The study's purpose is to find out the determinants of individuals' self-care…

Abstract

Purpose

Quality of life is dependent on a healthy lifestyle and the self-care behavior of individuals. The study's purpose is to find out the determinants of individuals' self-care behavior. As such, self-care behavior is influenced by several factors that include individual knowledge, available information sources and their use, information-seeking related skills and cognitive state.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative research design followed using a questionnaire-based survey method. A total of 384 responses from the Pakistani public were collected using the convenience sampling technique. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed for examining the possible link between the variables.

Findings

Health literacy, Internet and social media use, and health information-seeking behavior had a direct/indirect positive impact on self-care behavior, but health anxiety had a negative impact. Health literacy and health information-seeking behavior positively mediated the relationship among Internet and social media use health anxiety and self-care.

Research limitations/implications

Improving health literacy appears to be key to supporting better self-care, but it is an exploratory study, more research is required to confirm these findings. Policymakers, health professionals and information professionals should work together to improve health literacy and support informed self-care among the population.

Originality/value

Thus far, no previous study has examined the collective role of social media exposure, health anxiety, health literacy and health information-seeking behavior as predictors of self-care behavior. Although self-care behavior among the general population might be different compared to chronic patients, only few studies have examined the former as a unit of analysis.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 March 2022

Meryem Zoghlami and Kaouther Saied Ben Rached

This paper aims to examine the health technology use in health information seeking, communication and personal health information management, as well as in the effects they may…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the health technology use in health information seeking, communication and personal health information management, as well as in the effects they may have on his relationship with the physician and on the consumption of medical resources.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey was conducted. The questionnaires were distributed via online health discussion forums using Google's survey software with a summary presentation of the study’s objective. The final selection of 362 individuals was made using social media, direct email and collaboration with community groups. The empirical validation of the causal model was conducted using the partial least square approach.

Findings

The results show that the use of e-health strengthens the quality of the patient–physician relationship and patient empowerment while increasing the consumption of medical resources.

Originality/value

The results of this research indicate that the internet has transformed the relationship of patients to health, to their doctors and to the health-care system. In this new context, a reconsideration of the status of the patient must be considered by health service providers.

Details

VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2059-5891

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 October 2023

Nidhi Bansal and Heena Choudhary

This study acknowledges the existing digital divide in India, particularly for marginalised populations, and highlights the need for exceptional attention to address their unique…

Abstract

Purpose

This study acknowledges the existing digital divide in India, particularly for marginalised populations, and highlights the need for exceptional attention to address their unique needs, challenges and demands. Although previous research and policies have primarily focused on physical access and internet skills, this study shifts the focus to the outcomes of internet use. By understanding how older adults in marginalised communities incorporate the internet into their daily routines, this study aims to contribute to the development of an operational framework that charts the disadvantages of the digital divide.

Design/methodology/approach

The study draws from Helsper’s (2015) internet outcomes framework to identify the outcomes that older adults can derive from being online. By using a qualitative approach, the study seeks to understand how educational and economic backgrounds influence internet usage among older adults and how this can promote advantageous internet use.

Findings

The findings indicate that highly educated individuals are more likely to experience positive outcomes across various societal domains than their less educated counterparts. However, it was observed that the highly educated participants also try to limit the impact of internet use on their personal lives by intentionally disconnecting from the internet whenever possible.

Research limitations/implications

By offering programmes and interventions to encourage internet use and improve digital skills, as well as by enhancing digital accessibility and incentive systems, the government should go forward with its plan to close the outcomes gap in internet use among older adults. For policymakers, it turns the spotlight on creating an environment conducive to the digital inclusion of older adults, consistent with sociocultural structures.

Originality/value

This study contributes to understanding the nuanced dynamics of internet use among older adults, shedding light on the role of educational background and sociocultural factors in shaping internet outcomes. It highlights the need to consider qualitative approaches in digital inequality research to capture the complexities underlying the digital divide.

Details

Working with Older People, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-3666

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 February 2024

Williams E. Nwagwu

This study was carried out to examine the volume and annual growth pattern of research on e-health literacy research, investigate the open-access types of e-health literacy…

Abstract

Purpose

This study was carried out to examine the volume and annual growth pattern of research on e-health literacy research, investigate the open-access types of e-health literacy research and perform document production by country and by sources. The study also mapped the keywords used by authors to represent e-health literacy research and performed an analysis of the clusters of the keywords to reveal the thematic focus of research in the area.

Design/methodology/approach

The research was guided by a bibliometric approach involving visualization using VosViewer. Data were sourced from Scopus database using a syntax that was tested and verified to be capable of yielding reliable data on the subject matter. The analysis in this study was based on bibliographic data and keywords.

Findings

A total number of 1,176 documents were produced during 2006 and 2022. The majority of the documents (18.90%) were published based on hybrid open-access processes, and the USA has the highest contributions. The Journal of Medical Internet Research is the venue for most of the documents on the subject. The 1,176 documents were described by 5,047 keywords, 4.29 keywords per document, and the keywords were classified into five clusters that aptly capture the thematic structure of research in the area.

Research limitations/implications

e-Health literacy has experienced significant growth in research production from 2006 to 2022, with an average of 69 documents per year. Research on e-health literacy initially had low output but began to increase in 2018. The majority of e-health literacy documents are available through open access, with the USA being the leading contributor. The analysis of keywords reveals the multifaceted nature of e-health literacy, including access to information, attitudes, measurement tools, awareness, age factors and communication. Clusters of keywords highlight different aspects of e-health literacy research, such as accessibility, attitudes, awareness, measurement tools and the importance of age, cancer, caregivers and effective communication in healthcare.

Practical implications

This study has practical implications for health promotion. There is also the element of patient empowerment in which case patients are allowed to take an active role in their healthcare. By understanding their health information and having access to resources that help them manage their conditions, patients can make informed decisions about their healthcare. Finally, there is the issue of improved health outcomes which can be achieved by improving patients' e-health literacy. Visualisation of e-health literacy can help bridge the gap between patients and healthcare providers, promote patient-centered care and improve health outcomes.

Originality/value

Research production on e-Health literacy has experienced significant growth from 2006 to 2022, with an average of 69 documents per year. Many e-health literacy documents are available through open access, and the USA is the leading contributor. The analysis of keywords reveals the nature of e-health literacy, including access to information, attitudes, measurement tools, awareness and communication. The clusters of keywords highlight different aspects of e-health literacy research, such as accessibility, attitudes, awareness, measurement tools and the importance of age, cancer, caregivers, and effective communication in healthcare.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 February 2024

Nadia A. Abdelmegeed Abdelwahed, Mohammed A. Al Doghan, Ummi Naiemah Saraih and Bahadur Ali Soomro

In the present era, digital technology can be used responsibly to provide developed and developing countries with high-quality health-care services to nations. This study aims to…

Abstract

Purpose

In the present era, digital technology can be used responsibly to provide developed and developing countries with high-quality health-care services to nations. This study aims to explore Saudi Arabia’s intentions to adopt digital health-care practices.

Design/methodology/approach

To be consistent with previous studies, this study used a quantitative methodology to collect the data from health-care professionals working in Saudi Arabia’s public and private health institutes. Consequently, this study’s findings are based on 306 valid samples.

Findings

On the one hand, the path analysis reveals that health-care professionals believe in perceptions relating to the use of e-health and technology (PEHT) and experiences regarding internet use (ERIU) and that these have positive and significant effects on attitudes toward the use of e-health and technology (ATEHT) and intentions to use e-health services (ITUES). On the other hand, barriers to using e-health (BUEH) negatively impact ATEHT and ITUES. Finally, ATEHT also has a positive and significant effect on ITUES.

Practical implications

This study’s findings will help Saudi Arabia’s policymakers and the country’s health ministry to develop policies to provide e-services that health-care professionals can use to improve the quality of the country’s health care, patients’ human rights and social care. Furthermore, this study’s findings are helpful in developing attitudes and intentions toward either e-health or digital health to provide better health facilities to serve Saudi Arabia’s citizens.

Originality/value

This study empirically confirms among Saudi Arabia’s health-care professionals the PEHT, ERIU and BUEH toward ATEHT and ITUES.

Details

International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4902

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 March 2024

Yuehua Zhao, Linyi Zhang, Chenxi Zeng, Yidan Chen, Wenrui Lu and Ningyuan Song

This study aims to address the growing importance of online health information (OHI) and the associated uncertainty. Although previous research has explored factors influencing…

54

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to address the growing importance of online health information (OHI) and the associated uncertainty. Although previous research has explored factors influencing the credibility of OHI, results have been inconsistent. Therefore, this study aims to identify the essential factors that influence the perceived credibility of OHI by conducting a meta-analysis of articles published from 2010 to 2022. The study also aims to examine the moderating effects of demographic characteristics, study design and the platforms where health information is located.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the Prominence-Interpretation Theory (PIT), a meta-analysis of 25 empirical studies was conducted to explore 12 factors related to information content and source, social interaction, individual and media affordance. Moderators such as age, education level, gender of participants, sample size, platforms and research design were also examined.

Findings

Results suggest that all factors, except social support, have significant effects on the credibility of OHI. Among them, argument quality had the strongest correlation with credibility and individual factors were also found to be relevant. Moderating effects indicate that social support was significantly moderated by age and education level. Different sample sizes may lead to variations in the role of social endorsement, while personal involvement was moderated by sample size, platform and study design.

Originality/value

This study enriches the application of PIT in the health domain and provides guidance for scholars to expand the scope of research on factors influencing OHI credibility.

Details

Aslib Journal of Information Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-3806

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 March 2024

Olatunji Shobande, Lawrence Ogbeifun and Simplice Asongu

This study aims to explore whether globalization and technology are harmful to health using a global panel data set of 52 countries over the period 1990–2019.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore whether globalization and technology are harmful to health using a global panel data set of 52 countries over the period 1990–2019.

Design/methodology/approach

The study focused on four continents: Africa, the Americas, Asia/Oceania and Europe. The authors used four advanced econometric methodologies, which include the standard panel fixed effect (FE), Arellano–Bover/Blundell–Bond dynamic panel, Hausman–Taylor specification and two-stage least squares (FE-2SLS)/Lewbel-2SLS approaches.

Findings

The empirical evidence highlights the significance of globalization and technology in promoting global health. The findings suggest that globalization has various impacts on global health indicators and that technology is useful in tracking, monitoring and promoting global health. In addition, the empirical evidence indicates that a truly health-centred process of globalization and technological innovation can only be realized by ensuring that the interests of countries and vulnerable populations to health risks are adequately considered in international decision-making regarding global economic integration.

Originality/value

The authors suggest that achieving the aspiration of global health will entail the use of globalization and information technology to extend human activities and provide equal access to global health.

Details

Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-4620

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 May 2022

Priyanka Kumari Bhansali, Dilendra Hiran and Kamal Gulati

The purpose of this paper is to secure health data collection and transmission (SHDCT). In this system, a native network consists of portable smart devices that interact with…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to secure health data collection and transmission (SHDCT). In this system, a native network consists of portable smart devices that interact with multiple gateways. It entails IoMT devices and wearables connecting to exchange sensitive data with a sensor node which performs the aggeration process and then communicates the data using a Fog server. If the aggregator sensor loses the connection from the Fog server, it will be unable to submit data directly to the Fog server. The node transmits encrypted information with a neighboring sensor and sends it to the Fog server integrated with federated learning, which encrypts data to the existing data. The fog server performs the operations on the measured data, and the values are stored in the local storage area and later it is updated to the cloud server.

Design/methodology/approach

SHDCT uses an Internet-of-things (IoT)-based monitoring network, making it possible for smart devices to connect and interact with each other. The main purpose of the monitoring network has been in the collection of biological data and additional information from mobile devices to the patients. The monitoring network is composed of three different types of smart devices that is at the heart of the IoT.

Findings

It has been addressed in this work how to design an architecture for safe data aggregation in heterogeneous IoT-federated learning-enabled wireless sensor networks (WSNs), which makes use of basic encoding and data aggregation methods to achieve this. The authors suggest that the small gateway node (SGN) captures all of the sensed data from the SD and uses a simple, lightweight encoding scheme and cryptographic techniques to convey the data to the gateway node (GWN). The GWN gets all of the medical data from SGN and ensures that the data is accurate and up to date. If the data obtained is trustworthy, then the medical data should be aggregated and sent to the Fog server for further processing. The Java programming language simulates and analyzes the proposed SHDCT model for deployment and message initiation. When comparing the SHDCT scheme to the SPPDA and electrohydrodynamic atomisation (EHDA) schemes, the results show that the SHDCT method performs significantly better. When compared with the SPPDA and EHDA schemes, the suggested SHDCT plan necessitates a lower communication cost. In comparison to EHDA and SPPDA, SHDCT achieves 4.72% and 13.59% less, respectively. When compared to other transmission techniques, SHDCT has a higher transmission ratio. When compared with EHDA and SPPDA, SHDCT achieves 8.47% and 24.41% higher transmission ratios, respectively. When compared with other ways it uses less electricity. When compared with EHDA and SPPDA, SHDCT achieves 5.85% and 18.86% greater residual energy, respectively.

Originality/value

In the health care sector, a series of interconnected medical devices collect data using IoT networks in the health care domain. Preventive, predictive, personalized and participatory care is becoming increasingly popular in the health care sector. Safe data collection and transfer to a centralized server is a challenging scenario. This study presents a mechanism for SHDCT. The mechanism consists of Smart healthcare IoT devices working on federated learning that link up with one another to exchange health data. Health data is sensitive and needs to be exchanged securely and efficiently. In the mechanism, the sensing devices send data to a SGN. This SGN uses a lightweight encoding scheme and performs cryptography techniques to communicate the data with the GWN. The GWN gets all the health data from the SGN and makes it possible to confirm that the data is validated. If the received data is reliable, then aggregate the medical data and transmit it to the Fog server for further process. The performance parameters are compared with the other systems in terms of communication costs, transmission ratio and energy use.

Details

International Journal of Pervasive Computing and Communications, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-7371

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 January 2024

Sou Hyun Jang, Yong Jeong Yi and Yun-Mi Song

The primary objective was to develop a user-centered mobile health application (app) tailored to the specific health information needs of among immigrant women from diverse…

Abstract

Purpose

The primary objective was to develop a user-centered mobile health application (app) tailored to the specific health information needs of among immigrant women from diverse backgrounds in Korea.

Design/methodology/approach

In-depth interviews were conducted with 24 immigrant women to gain insights into their health information-seeking behavior. Based on the findings, a mobile app was designed and developed. A beta version of the app underwent validation by an MD and seven expert reviewers who assessed the app for content accuracy and conformance to mobile heuristics. Last, immigrant women (n = 12) evaluated the usability of the app.

Findings

The study revealed that the interviewed immigrant women had strong health information needs related to pregnancy and parenting. Most of them used multiple sources to find and verify health information. Language barriers were identified as a major obstacle to accessing and evaluating health information. The results of the user test indicated that the app effectively facilitated study participants' search for reliable health information, meeting their specific needs.

Research limitations/implications

This research extended the literature by addressing the limited availability of mobile apps tailored to the health information needs of immigrant women in Korea.

Originality/value

By incorporating multilingual support and focusing on pregnancy and parenting information, the health app serves as a valuable tool to bridge the gap in health information access and to facilitate the well-being of immigrant women in the country.

Details

Online Information Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1468-4527

Keywords

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