Predicting Adult Children's Decisions to Use Online Elderly Health Information for Their Aged Parents

摘要

The increasing number of older people and the dissemination of health information via the Internet have emerged and both are challenges to Chinese societies. Available online health information with limited control over information quality highlights the necessity of exploring decision making processes in accessing and using online information, specifically in relation to elderly who almost have no online presence and depend on their adult children's decisions. The objective of this study was to understand the processes explaining adult children's decisions to use online health information for their aged parents' health care by extending the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) with risk perception. Hierarchical multiple regression showed that attitude and perceived behavioral control were the predictors of intention to use elderly health information for treatment, whereas, perceived risk was not predictor of intention to use elderly health information for increased understanding. For adults' use of online elderly health information, for both behaviors, intention was the significant predictor of behavior. The results also provide further support for the utility of the TPB with risk perception in predicting decision making to use online health information. Since online health information search are growing, there is an urgent need to design the sustainable health information services for elderly people and improve the access to relevant health information.