A comparative mixed methods study on health information seeking among US‐born/US‐dwelling, Korean‐born/US‐dwelling, and Korean‐born/Korean‐dwelling mothers

Hanseul Stephanie Lee and Catherine Arnott Smith

Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, 2022, vol. 73, issue 7, 929-943

Abstract: More knowledge and a better understanding of health information seeking are necessary, especially in these unprecedented times due to the COVID‐19 pandemic. Using Sonnenwald's theoretical concept of information horizons, this study aimed to uncover patterns in mothers' source preferences related to their children's health. Online surveys were completed by 851 mothers (255 US‐born/US‐dwelling, 300 Korean‐born/US‐dwelling, and 296 Korean‐born/Korean‐dwelling), and supplementary in‐depth interviews with 24 mothers were conducted and analyzed. Results indicate that there were remarkable differences between the mothers' information source preference and their actual source use. Moreover, there were many similarities between the two Korean‐born groups concerning health information‐seeking behavior. For instance, those two groups sought health information more frequently than US‐born/US‐dwelling mothers. Their sources frequently included blogs or online forums as well as friends with children, whereas US‐born/US‐dwelling mothers frequently used doctors or nurses as information sources. Mothers in the two Korean‐born samples preferred the World Wide Web most as their health information source, while the US‐born/US‐dwelling mothers preferred doctors the most. Based on these findings, information professionals should guide mothers of specific ethnicities and nationalities to trustworthy sources considering both their usage and preferences.

Date: 2022
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