A Study of Health Information Behavior of Visually Impaired People

The channel and device for visually impaired people to seek health information have been improved due to the development of technology and the Internet. But, most information is presented in the formats which are not always easily accessible to them. Health information is frequently needed in people...

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Main Author: Shih-Chuan Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: National Chengchi University Libraries 2020-06-01
Series:Tūzī yǔ dàng’àn xuékān
Subjects:
Online Access:https://jila.lib.nccu.edu.tw/2020volume-12/121-no-96-june-2020/5623/
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author Shih-Chuan Chen
author_facet Shih-Chuan Chen
author_sort Shih-Chuan Chen
collection DOAJ
description The channel and device for visually impaired people to seek health information have been improved due to the development of technology and the Internet. But, most information is presented in the formats which are not always easily accessible to them. Health information is frequently needed in people's daily lives. Therefore, to explore the health information behavior of visually impaired people is an important research topic. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in this study, with 15 participants recruited via personal communication network. This study found that visually impaired people have a considerable degree of demand for health information. It can be summarized into five types of health information needs: medical information, dietary information, general daily health information, drug information, and sports information. Informatin sources are also quite extensive, including the Internet, social media, radio, books, magazines, doctors, and friends and relatives. Participants reported that they mostly seek information by themselves, with assistances from other people sometimes. They faced obstacles in the process of information seeking, such as language barriers, input errors, and inadequate interfaces. They suggested that the interfaces should be simple and friendly for the visually impaired people. Moreover, they recommended mobile apps would be convenient for them to access health information related radio programs via cell phones.
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spelling doaj.art-18f5648c299d48b2ad1a0829944bfac72022-12-22T04:06:39ZengNational Chengchi University LibrariesTūzī yǔ dàng’àn xuékān2412-18002020-06-0112114010.6575/JILA.202012_(96).0001A Study of Health Information Behavior of Visually Impaired PeopleShih-Chuan Chen0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8342-7872Department of Library and Information Science Fu Jen Catholic UniversityThe channel and device for visually impaired people to seek health information have been improved due to the development of technology and the Internet. But, most information is presented in the formats which are not always easily accessible to them. Health information is frequently needed in people's daily lives. Therefore, to explore the health information behavior of visually impaired people is an important research topic. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in this study, with 15 participants recruited via personal communication network. This study found that visually impaired people have a considerable degree of demand for health information. It can be summarized into five types of health information needs: medical information, dietary information, general daily health information, drug information, and sports information. Informatin sources are also quite extensive, including the Internet, social media, radio, books, magazines, doctors, and friends and relatives. Participants reported that they mostly seek information by themselves, with assistances from other people sometimes. They faced obstacles in the process of information seeking, such as language barriers, input errors, and inadequate interfaces. They suggested that the interfaces should be simple and friendly for the visually impaired people. Moreover, they recommended mobile apps would be convenient for them to access health information related radio programs via cell phones.https://jila.lib.nccu.edu.tw/2020volume-12/121-no-96-june-2020/5623/visually impaired peopleinformation behaviorhealth informationinformation needsinformation sources
spellingShingle Shih-Chuan Chen
A Study of Health Information Behavior of Visually Impaired People
Tūzī yǔ dàng’àn xuékān
visually impaired people
information behavior
health information
information needs
information sources
title A Study of Health Information Behavior of Visually Impaired People
title_full A Study of Health Information Behavior of Visually Impaired People
title_fullStr A Study of Health Information Behavior of Visually Impaired People
title_full_unstemmed A Study of Health Information Behavior of Visually Impaired People
title_short A Study of Health Information Behavior of Visually Impaired People
title_sort study of health information behavior of visually impaired people
topic visually impaired people
information behavior
health information
information needs
information sources
url https://jila.lib.nccu.edu.tw/2020volume-12/121-no-96-june-2020/5623/
work_keys_str_mv AT shihchuanchen astudyofhealthinformationbehaviorofvisuallyimpairedpeople
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