An Attitudinal Analysis of Preventive Health Care Information Users: With Insights from Social Media
Abstract
As the U.S. health care system continues to restructure itself, an increased emphasis on preventive health care will be a very important component. It is vital that preventive health care information (PHCI) be readily accessible and applied. This research explores the impact of social media as a source for accessing PHCI. Specifically, it examines how individuals rate active vs. passive internet delivery systems (IDS) to gather PHCI. Results of the study indicated that online health forums (active IDS) were the most popular source of PHCI, whereas Facebook and Twitter were most unpopular. On the whole, accessing PHCI via active IDS was strongly linked with those that were PHC oriented, and may become an important source of choice for PHCI.