Comprehending Nutrition and Lifestyle Behaviors of People with Metabolic Syndrome: A Focus Group Study

Demographically and socio-culturally appropriate care is critical for empowering people with metabolic syndrome (MetS) to self-manage their condition. This focus group study aimed to explore the understanding of nutrition and lifestyle behaviors (NLBs) of Malaysians with MetS. Adults with MetS (N = 21) participated in four focus groups at a university's research clinic in Malaysia. A thematic framework analysis approach was applied to the focus group data using an initial coding framework developed from the Health Belief Model. Six main themes were identified on perceived motivations, barriers, and threats toward healthy NLBs. Motivations to adopt healthy NLBs were body image, personal experience of adverse complications, and family and social support. The perception that healthcare is a business model, the idea that changes in NLBs are difficult and expensive, and cultural influence on food intake were identified as barriers to healthy NLBs. Inadequate knowledge of MetS was identified as a subtheme in this study. Health education and health promotion activities that aim to modify the NLBs of people with MetS should consider the community's perception of motivation and barriers to change. Addressing these aspects in the development of programs can potentially increase program adoption and adherence, ensuring the success of community-based lifestyle interventions.

Measuring Everyday Health Information Literacy: A Survey of Pakistani Married Working Women

Health Information Literacy (HIL) influences the decision making of individuals towards the understanding of health-related matters. Married women are the major contributors to family members’ health decisions in a country like Pakistan, where the role of women in family life is very significant. In most families, women are responsible for food selection, cooking, management of the home, including cleanliness etc. Married working women have an integral role both at home and workplace. The current study explores the everyday health information literacy (EHIL) of 213 married working women using a survey research design with a convenient sampling technique from two prominent universities of Lahore, Pakistan. The study’s findings reveal that most of the married working women (3.57 mean value) are well-aware of the sources from where the health-related information can be obtained. Sixty-two percent of the respondents prefer using allopathic healthcare methods for medical treatment. Moreover, 38 percent of women do not understand health-related terminologies. It has been noted that age, education, nature of the job, birthplace, nuclear family system, and educational environment are the significant demographic factors that contribute towards the levels of EHIL.

The Role of Physical Activity-Related Health Competence and Leisure-Time Physical Activity for Physical Health and Metabolic Syndrome: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach for German Office Workers

Office workers (OWs) are prone to insufficient physical activity (PA), which increases their risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and impaired physical health. The Physical Activity-related Health Competence (PAHCO) model holds the potential to facilitate a healthy physically active lifestyle. Therefore, in this study, we investigate the interplay between PAHCO, leisure-time PA, physical health, and MetS in OWs in Germany. In a cross-sectional study, OWs (N = 316, 25% female) completed self-report questionnaires along with an occupational health checkup to examine their Metabolic Syndrome Severity Score (MetSSS) values. Structural equation modeling indicated a strong positive association between PAHCO and leisure-time PA and a small positive association with physical health. PAHCO showed a considerable negative association with the MetSSS. Leisure-time PA was a positive mediator for the PAHCO-physical health association but was not a significant mediator for the association between PAHCO and the MetSSS. These findings underscore the importance of PAHCO in the context of leisure-time PA, physical health, and MetS in OWs. Furthermore, our findings highlight the health-enhancing value of the qualitative aspects of PA, such as motivational and volitional components in PA participation, with respect to physical health and MetS.

Health Information behaviour during COVID-19 outbreak among Egyptian library and information science undergraduate students

Health information shared on the Internet has the potential to improve people’s quality of life. However, the level of health information literacy and informational skills determines the individuals’ ability to obtain credible health information useful for them. This study investigates the Egyptian LIS undergraduates’ health information behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study has adopted a quantitative approach using a questionnaire to explore library and information science undergraduates’ health information behaviour. A sample of 161 students answered a questionnaire. The data were analysed using SPSS software. The study results show that official health websites, social media, and family and friends are the primary sources for health information for the participants. The findings also revealed that the sample has adequate health information skills, though many of the participants still need to raise their information literacy skills. Information credibility and personal beliefs were found to affect the participants’ decision to share health information on the Internet. One of the limitations of the study is that the sample selected in this study was LIS students who are trained to find reliable information as part of their education. Findings may be different for the “average” student. Furthermore, the questionnaire was distributed in one university, which means that the results cannot be generalised in other LIS departments using different courses. Therefore, more studies need to be conducted in other LIS departments with different course plans as they may produce different results. This study explores the health information behaviour of LIS undergraduates during the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study results may help develop the course plan in many LIS departments in Egypt and the Middle East, which would help improve the students’ health information literacy.

An empirical investigation of precursors influencing social media health information behaviors and personal healthcare habits during coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

Purpose

Drawing upon the communicative ecology theory (CET), this study aims to identify the potential precursors of social media health information seeking intentions (ISI) and examine their effects on health information re-sharing behaviors and PHH during coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

The data is collected through an online survey conducted in two different universities situated in highly COVID-19-affected cities – Wuhan and Zhengzhou, China. The valid data consists of 230 useful responses from WeChat users and to analyze the final data set structural equation modeling (SEM) is used.

Findings

The results indicate that perceived health information credibility (PIC), trust on the medium (TRM) and peer influence (PI) significantly affect health ISI which further affects health information re-sharing behaviors (IRB) and personal health-care habits (PHH). Besides, the results also identify that PI has a direct, positive and significant effect on health IRB via social media during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research limitations/implications

This study investigates the health information intentional behavior precursors and their consequences via WeChat (taken as social media platform) during COVID-19 pandemic. Future studies may conduct research by examining online information behaviors on other social media platforms – Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook, etc. – in health emergency situations.

Practical implications

The health information producers and providers have to deal with communicative ecology sentiments elegantly in emergency situations such as during the COVID-19 pandemic. They need to do collective efforts by introducing new tools or social apps which deal with valuable, reliable and accurate health content and information generated by the pandemic experts and health professionals. In such a way, the social apps and tools (Information providers) will act as mediators between the health professionals (Information producers) and general social media users (information seekers). Such initiatives will ultimately bring forth positive effect on individuals’ PHH as a whole within a network, community, environment or nations during a health emergency – COVID-19 pandemic.

Originality/value

This research is one of the first studies to examine the potential precursors of social media health ISIs and their resultant effects on individual’s health IRB and PHH during the COVID-19 pandemic. As currently it is noticed, an incredible upsurge of health information via social media has intense impacts on personal health-care research and practice, particularly during health emergency situations such as COVID-19 pandemic conditions.

Screening everyday health information literacy among four populations

BACKGROUND

People face varying obstacles when interacting with health information in their everyday lives.

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to examine the applicability of a multidimensional Everyday Health Information Literacy (EHIL) screening tool in detecting people with challenges in accessing, understanding, evaluating and using health information in everyday situations.

METHODS

Previously collected EHIL screening tool data from Finnish upper secondary school students (n = 217), Finnish young men (n = 1450), Finnish adults with an increased risk for metabolic syndrome (n = 559) and Namibian university students (n = 271) were reanalysed to examine the factorial structure of the tool and to compare the groups. Statistical analyses included exploratory factor analyses, calculation of mean factor scores and one-way analysis of variance.

RESULTS

A three factor structure ('awareness', 'access', 'assessment') for the screening tool was supported based on the Finnish samples. However, the Namibian data did not follow a similar structure. Significant differences in groupwise factor scores were discovered.

DISCUSSION

The findings suggest that the multidimensional EHIL screening tool can be used in pointing out areas where individuals or groups may need support.

CONCLUSION

The tool may be useful to health information and library services workers when counselling or educating the public.

Health information seeking, beliefs about abilities, and health behaviour among Finnish seniors

The paper presents a study that examines older Finnish adults’ self-perceived capability to access, evaluate, understand and use health-related information, and their perceived ability to influence their health themselves, and the relationship between these factors and their current health, health behaviour and information seeking. Questionnaires were mailed by post to 1000 Finns aged 65–79 years, and a total of 281 completed questionnaires (28%) were returned. Of these, 273 were included in the study. Cross-tabulation and chi-square tests were used for the analysis. Results showed that both a stronger belief in one’s capability to master health information and to act in a healthy manner were positively linked to better health and health behaviour as well as more active information behaviour. These beliefs can be important factors for influencing certain health behaviours and even behaviour change.

Factors influencing people’s health knowledge adoption in social media

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors influencing people’s health knowledge adoption in social media, with an eye toward promoting health information literacy and healthy behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the integration of sense-making theory, social influence theory, information richness theory, fear appeal theory, and ELM (elaboration likelihood method), a health knowledge adoption model is constructed. Taking spondylopathy as an example, high health threat and low health threat experiments and questionnaires are designed to complete the empirical study. In all, 355 effective survey samples are collected and analyzed, leveraging a partial least squares method.

Findings

Research results indicate that perceived knowledge quality, perceived knowledge consensus, and perceived source credibility have positive effects on health knowledge adoption via the mediator – trust; knowledge richness contributes to the perception of knowledge quality, source credibility, and knowledge consensus, especially under high health threat; health threat has significant positive moderating effects on the relationship between trust and health knowledge adoption, and the relationship between perceived knowledge quality and trust, with negative moderating effects on the relationships between perceived knowledge consensus, perceived source credibility, and trust.

Originality/value

This paper examines the mediating effecting of trust in the process of health knowledge adoption. Based on the integration of fear appeal theory, social influence theory, sense-making theory, information richness theory and elaboration likelihood model, this study investigates the factors influencing health knowledge adoption in social media from the perspective of a user, and explores the moderating effect of health threat on health knowledge adoption.

eHealth literacy research-Quo vadis?

The concept of electronic health (eHealth) literacy evolved from the social and information sciences and describes competencies necessary to use electronic health services. As it is a rather new topic, and as there is no current overview of the state of the art in research, it is not possible to identify research gaps. Therefore, the objective of this viewpoint article is to increase knowledge on the current state of the art of research in eHealth literacy and to identify gaps in scientific research which should be focused on by the research community in the future. The article provides a current viewpoint of the concept of eHealth literacy and related research. Gaps can be found in terms of a missing "gold standard" regarding both the definition and the measurement of eHealth literacy. Furthermore, there is a need for identifying the implications on eHealth developers, which evolve from the measurement of eHealth literacy in eHealth users. Finally, a stronger inclusion of health professionals, both in the evolving concept and in the measurement of eHealth literacy, is needed in the future.

Towards an everyday life information literacy mind-set: a review of literature

Purpose

Information literacy (IL) within the everyday life context is regarded as an important condition for civic participation and engagement, informed citizenship, health and well-being. However, compared to the significant amount of IL research within educational and workplace settings, there has been relatively little research in relation to the value of IL within everyday life situations. The purpose of this paper is to explore existing empirical research that addresses aspects of IL within the context of everyday life, identifying current gaps in the literature, highlighting key theoretical positions, and mapping trends.

Design/methodology/approach

The review has been conducted in the form of a scoping study that aims to map the key concepts underpinning this research area and the main sources and types of evidence available. It is based on journal literature reporting primary research, published from 2000 to 2016 and sourced from a range of different databases covering IL research.

Findings

IL practices take place within diverse everyday life contexts. The key research directions have been categorised into four broad contextual areas, encompassing leisure and community activities, citizenship and the fulfilment of social roles, public health and critical life situations. These point to the need for developing an IL mind-set which is discussed as an adaptive, transferable and ongoing activity that transgresses the boundaries of prescribed skills within the specific contexts of work and education.

Originality/value

This research area is still in its infancy and more varied contexts need to be explored to nurture a robust understanding of the use and impact of IL in people’s everyday lives. The paper also highlights the implications of the lack of IL and identifies the key players in the advocacy of IL within different everyday life settings.