Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Finnish ‘Silver Surfers’ and Online Health Information

  • Conference paper
Exploring the Abyss of Inequalities (WIS 2012)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 313))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

The Internet is thought to be beneficial for the elderly regarding health communication. Many of those over 65 years of age do not, however, use the Internet. This paper presents results from a survey and a follow-up interview concerning health information seeking of Finns aged 65-79 years. Questionnaires were distributed to 1000 persons living in the Turku region in January 2011, and 281 questionnaires were returned. Interviews were conducted with 49 of those who had returned the questionnaire, and 19 interviews are included in this study. The results show that the Internet is fairly little used when elderly seek health-related information, and that many older, less educated and unhealthier persons do not use it at all. Those who use it the most mainly search Google, and obtain hits that can vary in quality. Health and information providers should be cautious to rely on the ability of seniors to take care of themselves and their health through information on the Internet, as there are still so many who do not use the web at all.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Harrod, M.: “I Have to Keep Going”: Why Some Older Adults Are Using the Internet for Health Information. Ageing Int. 36, 283–294 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Casey, H., Cram, N.: How the Internet has Changed Modern Medicine. J. Clin. Eng. 30, 94–99 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Anderson, J.G.: Consumers of e-Health: Patterns of Use and Barriers. Soc. Sci. Comput. Rev. 22, 242–248 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Kaiser Family Foundation: E-health and the Elderly: How Seniors use the Internet for Health Information. Key Findings from a National Survey of Older Americans (2005), http://www.kff.org/entmedia/upload/e-Health-and-the-Elderly-How-Seniors-Use-the-internet-for-Health-Information-Key-Findings-From-a-National-Survey-of-Older-Americans-Survey-Report.pdf

  5. Peacock, S.E., Künemund, H.: Senior Citizens and Internet Technology. Reasons and Correlates of Access Versus Non-access in a European Comparative Perspective. Eur. J. Ageing 4, 191–200 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Fox, S.: Online Health Search 2006. Pew Internet & American Life Project, Washington, DC (2006), http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2006/PIP_Online_Health_2006.pdf.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  7. Johnson, S., Johnson, E.: Access to Health Information among Elderly People: is the Internet a Promising Avenue? In: Bath, P.A., Albright, K., Norris, T. (eds.) Proceedings of the 12th International Symposium for Health Information Management Research (ISHIMR 2007), Sheffield, UK, July 18-20, p. 278. University of Sheffield, Sheffield (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Jones, S., Fox, S.: Generations Online in 2009. Pew Internet & American Life Project, Washington, DC (2009), http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/Generations-Online-in-2009.aspx

    Google Scholar 

  9. Ek, S., Niemelä, R.: Onko internetistä tullut suomalaisten tärkein terveystiedonlähde? Deskriptiivistä tutkimustietoa vuosilta 2001 ja 2009 (Has the Internet Become the Finns’ Most Important Source of Health Information? Descriptive Data from the Years 2001 and 2009). Informaatiotutkimus 29 (2010), http://ojs.tsv.fi/index.php/inf/article/viewFile/3856/3640

  10. Statistics Finland. Internet Use Outside Home and Work Become More Common (2011), http://www.stat.fi/til/sutivi/2011/sutivi_2011_2011-11-02_tie_001_en.html

  11. Gilleard, C., Higgins, P.: Internet Use and the Digital Divide in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Eur. J. Ageing 5, 233–239 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Taha, J., Sharit, J., Czaja, S.: Use for and Satisfaction with Sources of Health Information among Older Internet Users and Nonusers. Gerontologist 49, 663–673 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Aula, A.: User Study on Older Adults’ Use of Web and Search Engines. Univ. Acess Inf. Soc. 4, 67–81 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Campbell, R.J., Wabby, J.: The Elderly and the Internet: A Case Study. Internet J. Health 3 (2003), http://www.ispub.com/journal/the-internet-journal-of-health/volume-3-number-1/the-elderly-and-the-internet-a-case-study.html

  15. Morris, A., Goodman, J., Brading, H.: Internet Use and Non-use: Views of Older Adults. Univ. Access Inf. Soc. 6, 43–57 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Adams, N., Stubbs, D., Woods, V.: Psychological Barriers to Internet Usage among Older Adults in the UK. Med. Inform. Internet 30, 3–17 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Berland, G.K., Elliot, M.N., Morales, L.S., Algazy, J.I., Kravitz, R.L., Broder, M.S., Kanouse, D.E., Muñoz, J.A., Puyol, J.-A., Lara, M., Watkins, K.E., Yang, H., McGlynn, E.A.: Health Information on the Internet. Accessibility, Quality, and Readability in English and Spanish. J. Amer. Med. Assoc. 285, 2612–2637 (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Murero, M., D’Ancona, G., Karamanoukian, H.: Use of the Internet by Patients Before and After Cardiac Surgery: Telephone Survey. J. Med. Internet Res. 3 (2001), http://www.jmir.org/2001/3/e27/

  19. Eriksson-Backa, K.: Not for Us? Use and Non-use of the Internet for Health-related Information by Elderly in a Language Minority. In: Suomi, R., Arpiainen, S. (eds.) Promoting Health in Urban Living. Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Well-being in the Information Society (WIS 2008), pp. 123–133. Turku Centre for Computer Science, Turku (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Sum, S., Mathews, R.M., Hughes, I.: Participation of Older Adults in Cyberspace: How Australian Older Adults Use the Internet. Australas. J. Ageing 28, 189–193 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Drake, M.: Terveysviestinnän kipupisteitä: terveystiedon tuottajat ja hankkijat Internetissä (At the Interstices of Health Communication. Producers and Seekers of Health Information on the Internet). Jyväskylän yliopisto, Jyväskylä (2009), https://jyx.jyu.fi/dspace/bitstream/handle/123456789/22373/9789513937140.pdf?sequence

  22. Given, L., Ruecker, S., Simpson, H., Sadler, B., Ruskin, A.: Inclusive Interface Design for Seniors: Image-browsing for a Health Information-seeking Context. J. Am. Soc. Inform. Sci. Tech. 58, 1610–1617 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Morey, O.T.: Health Information Ties: Preliminary Findings on the Health Information Seeking Behaviour of an African-American Community. Inf. Res. 12 (2007), http://informationr.net/ir/12-2/paper277.html

  24. Wicks, D.A.: “Go with the Flow”: Independent Older Adults and Their Information Seeking. In: Proceedings of the 29th Annual Conference of the Canadian Association for Information Science, May 26-29, Université Laval, Quebec City, May 26-29 (2001), http://www.cais-acsi.ca/proceedings/2001/Wicks_2001.pdf

  25. Eriksson-Backa, K.: Access to Health Information: Perceptions of Barriers among Elderly in a Language Minority. Inf. Res. 13 (2008), http://InformationR.net/ir/13-4/paper368.html

  26. Eriksson-Backa, K.: Elderly People, Health Information, and Libraries: a Small-Scale Study on Seniors in a Language Minority. Libri 60, 181–194 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Eriksson-Backa, K., Ek, S.: Information Behaviour in the Context of Overweight and Related Health Risks: a Small-scale Study of Retired Finns. In: Suomi, R., Ilveskoski, I. (eds.) Navigating the Fragmented Innovation Landscape. Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Well-being in the Information Society (WIS 2010), pp. 27–34. Turku Centre for Computer Science, Turku (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Fox, S.: Older Americans and the Internet. Pew Internet & American Life Project, Washington, DC (2004), http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Seniors_Online_2004.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  29. Harris, R.M., Wathen, C.N., Fear, J.M.: Searching for Health Information in Rural Canada: Where do Residents Look for Health Information and What do They do When They Find it? Inf. Res. 12 (2006), http://InformationR.net/ir/12-1/paper274.html

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Information Studies, Åbo Akademi University, Fänriksgatan 3B, 20500, Åbo, Finland

    Kristina Eriksson-Backa

Authors
  1. Kristina Eriksson-Backa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Information Studies, Åbo Akademi University, Fänriksgatan 3B, 20500, Åbo, Finland

    Kristina Eriksson-Backa , Annika Luoma  & Erica Krook ,  & 

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Eriksson-Backa, K. (2012). Finnish ‘Silver Surfers’ and Online Health Information. In: Eriksson-Backa, K., Luoma, A., Krook, E. (eds) Exploring the Abyss of Inequalities. WIS 2012. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 313. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32850-3_13

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32850-3_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-32849-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-32850-3

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation