Babbage Duncan R, van Kessel Kirsten, Terraschke Agnes, Drown Juliet, Elder Hinemoa
Auckland University of Technology, Centre for eHealth, Auckland, New Zealand.
Centre for eHealth & School of Public Health and Psychosocial Studies, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
BMJ Open. 2020 Jun 1;10(6):e037892. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-037892.
Examine attitudes to using online health and wellness services, and determine what barriers may exist to this in two rural communities in New Zealand.
A thematic analysis informed by a social constructivist paradigm explored the attitudes of youth and adults to give voice to these communities. Eighteen focus groups-nine in each region-were held for an hour each, with between three and nine participants in each group.
Two rural areas at the Northern and Southern ends of New Zealand were chosen. In each area, we partnered with a local health centre providing primary care services. Three localities were identified within each region where we conducted the data collection.
Participants were youth aged 12-15 years, aged 16-20 years and adults over 21 years. Overall, 74 females and 40 males were recruited. Recruitment occurred through schools, community organisations or personal contacts of the facilitators, who were youth workers in their respective communities. Ethnicity of the participants was representative of each area, with a higher percentage of Māori participants in Northland.
Eight themes were identified which described participants' attitudes to technology use in healthcare. Themes covered accessibility, cost, independence, anonymity and awareness issues: technology makes health information easily accessible; access to technology can be limited in rural communities; technology can reduce the cost of healthcare but it is too expensive for some; technology increases independence and autonomy of people's own health; independent healthcare decisions come with risks; anonymity encourages people to seek help online; technology can help raise awareness and provide peer-support for people with health issues; technology impacts on social relationships.
Participants-particularly youth-were generally positive about the role of technology in healthcare delivery, and interested in ways technology could improve autonomy and access to health and wellness services.
研究对使用在线健康和保健服务的态度，并确定新西兰两个农村社区在这方面可能存在哪些障碍。
采用社会建构主义范式进行的主题分析，探讨了青年和成年人的态度，以了解这些社区的看法。共举行了18个焦点小组，每个地区9个，每个小组持续一小时，每组有3至9名参与者。
选择了新西兰南北两端的两个农村地区。在每个地区，我们与提供初级保健服务的当地健康中心合作。在每个地区确定了三个地点进行数据收集。
参与者为12至15岁的青年、16至20岁的青年和21岁以上的成年人。总共招募了74名女性和40名男性。招募通过学校、社区组织或主持人的个人联系进行，主持人是各自社区的青年工作者。参与者的种族代表了每个地区的情况，北地的毛利参与者比例较高。
确定了八个主题，描述了参与者对医疗保健中技术使用的态度。主题涵盖可及性、成本、独立性、匿名性和意识问题：技术使健康信息易于获取；农村社区的技术获取可能有限；技术可以降低医疗保健成本，但对一些人来说太昂贵；技术增加了人们自身健康的独立性和自主性；独立的医疗保健决策存在风险；匿名性鼓励人们在线寻求帮助；技术可以帮助提高认识并为有健康问题的人提供同伴支持；技术对社会关系有影响。
参与者，尤其是青年，总体上对技术在医疗保健提供中的作用持积极态度，并对技术可以改善自主性以及获取健康和保健服务的方式感兴趣。
