Department of Nursing, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden.
Arctic Research Centre, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Dec 15;18(24):13240. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182413240.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Internet has been a major source of information for people to keep updated with news and guidelines. However, concerns have been raised about the 'infodemic', which includes the overabundance of online information and the spread of misleading information. Adequate eHealth literacy skills among world citizens have therefore been emphasized as vital during the pandemic. Persons with type 2 diabetes have been at increased risk of severe outcomes of COVID-19 disease. This study aimed to explore online COVID-19 information acquisition experiences among persons with type 2 diabetes and varying eHealth literacy. Fifty-eight participants filled out the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS), along with a qualitative questionnaire with free-text questions. Additionally, 10 participants were interviewed. Thematic analysis was applied to identify patterns in participants' experiences. Two domains were identified: perceived challenges with online information about COVID-19, and coping strategies to manage challenges. The perceived challenges were: being exposed to information overload, dealing with conflicting information, and being strongly emotionally affected. The related coping strategies were: protecting oneself, trusting authorities, taking command, and using common sense. These strategies often involved triangulation of the information obtained, including participants consulting their common sense, various sources, or family and friends. This paper highlights the crucial role of authorities in delivering online information, that according to health literacy principles, is easy to access, understand, and use. Furthermore, our results reinforce the importance of diabetes nurses, as well as healthcare professionals in general, in encouraging patients to share their Internet findings, promote information from reliable sources, and deliver tailored information that suits individual needs. Because our results underline the importance of social support in eHealth literacy and the assessment of online health information, the inclusion of family and friends needs to be increasingly considered in diabetes care. Due to the small homogenous sample, the results of this study cannot be generalized. However, the reader can assess the transferability to other situations and settings based on our contextual descriptions.
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，互联网已成为人们获取新闻和指南的主要信息来源。然而，人们对“信息疫情”表示担忧，其中包括过多的在线信息和误导性信息的传播。因此，在大流行期间，强调世界公民具备足够的电子健康素养技能至关重要。2 型糖尿病患者患 COVID-19 疾病严重后果的风险增加。本研究旨在探索 2 型糖尿病患者在不同电子健康素养水平下在线获取 COVID-19 信息的体验。58 名参与者填写了电子健康素养量表（eHEALS），并填写了带有自由文本问题的定性问卷。此外，还对 10 名参与者进行了访谈。采用主题分析来识别参与者体验中的模式。确定了两个领域：对 COVID-19 在线信息的感知挑战，以及应对挑战的策略。感知挑战包括：信息过载、处理冲突信息、强烈的情绪影响。相关的应对策略包括：保护自己、信任权威、掌握主动权和运用常识。这些策略通常涉及对获得的信息进行三角测量，包括参与者参考自己的常识、各种来源或家人和朋友。本文强调了当局在提供在线信息方面的关键作用，根据健康素养原则，这些信息易于获取、理解和使用。此外，我们的结果还强调了糖尿病护士以及一般医疗保健专业人员的重要性，鼓励患者分享他们的互联网发现，促进来自可靠来源的信息，并提供适合个人需求的定制信息。由于我们的结果强调了社会支持在电子健康素养和在线健康信息评估中的重要性，因此需要越来越多地考虑将家人和朋友纳入糖尿病护理中。由于样本较小且同质，因此本研究的结果不能推广。但是，读者可以根据我们的上下文描述评估在其他情况和环境中的可转移性。
