Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 16, Issue 4, 2014, Pages 652-660

Health information seeking behaviors of ethnically diverse adolescents (Article)

Okoniewski A.E.* , Lee Y.J. , Rodriguez M. , Schnall R. , Low A.F.H.
  • a Columbia University, School of Nursing, 617 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, United States
  • b Columbia University, School of Nursing, 617 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, United States
  • c Columbia University, School of Nursing, 617 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, United States
  • d Columbia University, School of Nursing, 617 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, United States
  • e NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, 627 West 165th Street, New York, NY 10032, United States

Abstract

Research on health information has primarily focused on the needs of adults or parents of children with chronic illnesses or consumers. There is limited research on the health information needs of adolescents and in particular those from underserved communities. The primary objective of this qualitative study was to understand the health information needs of healthy, urban adolescents, and how they met those needs. Focus group methodology was used to gather information from a sample of ethnically diverse urban adolescents. Data was analyzed using Kriekelas' information seeking behavior framework to, examine the participants'' report of their immediate and deferred health information needs. Our sample of adolescents used several different sources to satisfy their health information needs depending on acuity and severity, which was congruent with Kriekelas' framework. Understanding how adolescents use technology to meet their health information needs, and in what order of preference, will be critical for the development of technology that adolescents find useful and has the potential to decrease health disparities. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Author Keywords

Adolescent mobile technology Health seeking behaviors Information seeking

Index Keywords

Ethnic Groups male New York City information processing Needs Assessment ethnic group Information Seeking Behavior female information seeking Focus Groups qualitative research Adolescent Behavior human Humans New York Adolescent
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84904395761&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-013-9803-y&partnerID=40&md5=f1325097a8889371d7498f8cf886cd35
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-013-9803-y
ISSN: 15571912
Cited by: 6
Original Language: English