TAILIEUCHUNG - Medical Information Seeking Behavior of the Elderly & Pathfinder

Access to basic services in the community is also likely to influence the health of elders. For instance, having an accessible health care provider will enable elderly persons to obtain needed medical attention more easily (IOM, 2002). Similarly, ready access to a full service grocery store will provide better and more affordable access to food supplies. Proper nutrition is known to contribute to better health in the elderly (IOM, 2000). The presence of religious institutions in the community may provide social supports that have protective effects on health (Krause, 1998). . | Monique Escamilla Medical Information Seeking Behavior of the Elderly Pathfinder 3 10 06 I have chosen the elderly population as my group to research regarding information seeking behavior. I will concentrate primarily on English-speaking adults age 65 and up and how they seek information regarding their health. In terms of medical information seeking seniors rely on direct communication with their physicians as their primary knowledge base. For their general information needs they tend to seek out print sources as their primary reference. Wicks 2004 performed an exhaustive literature review of research on the information seeking behavior of seniors. He reports that seniors rely on interpersonal sources together with internally-produced print materials for their information needs regarding participation in community clubs and organizations. Seniors sought printed resources for hobby-related information seeking. For answers to medical and financial questions they tended to look primarily to interpersonal sources. Interpersonal sources include physicians and pharmacists other professionals family members and friends. In another study elderly adults were willing to use the Internet as a starting point for general health information but when it came to making informed decisions about their health care the majority adhered to a physiciancentered care model Campbell and Nolfi 2005 . . Two interesting characteristics regarding this group and the way they seek information hold significant ramifications for the overall health of seniors. Firstly seniors tend to turn to their doctors as their primary source of medical information. Secondly they have in general resisted turning to the Internet for their primary medical information seeking needs. These two characteristics are significant due to changing trends in medicine. With HMO s and hospitals demanding that doctors see a certain number of patients each day the average amount of time a doctor spends with her patient is

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