Nowadays, many parents frequently use the
Internet to obtain information about their child’s conditions, but at the same
time they are unaware of the potential pitfalls that Internet information can
present. Parents’ quests for health-related online information comprise an
effort to manage symptoms of illness or address questions about child
development which may be an expression of self-management or self-care.
This study aimed to
describe health and child development related Internet search patterns used by
parents of children ages zero to six, and further, how the obtained information
was used in contacts with Child Health Care. A two-step mixed-method
approach is used in this study, comprising both a quantitative and a
qualitative approach. First, a questionnaire was distributed to parents (n =
800) at 13 health centers in a medium sized county in Sweden. Second, one
narrative interview with two parents total was conducted. Descriptive and
non-parametric statistics were calculated, and qualitative manifest content
analyses were performed.
A total of 687
completed the questionnaire, which corresponds to a response rate of 86%. The
results show that 97% used the Internet for health-related and developmental
child issues. The results show that parents often look at basic tips and the
Internet is seen as a fast and accessible forum to obtain information. Parents
often initiated their Internet searches using Google search for the specific
subject, but the most common and most used website (used by 95% of parents),
was the Swedish health site 1177.se. 98.4% of parents evaluated the general
information searches they made on the Internet as reliable despite only 31% of
the parents checking to see if the websites they used were scientifically
based. Parents (81.7%) stated that they wanted their Child Health Nurses (CHN)
to give them recommendations for valid websites.
In conclusion, the
results in this study show on one hand that the Internet could strengthen
parents with new knowledge (support self-care capacity), and on the other hand,
worry them, thereby, increasing their anxiety-negatively affected self-care
capacity. The parents suggested that the information should be double-checked
to establish trust and develop self-care knowledge.
Article by Lotha
Valan, et al, from Sweden.
Full access: http://mrw.so/4TTJlO
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