Abstract
The potential of web-based health education to improve healthcare has not yet been fully realized. Neither has the assessment of consumer confidence to manage health been thoroughly explored. Data from the 2015 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and the 2015 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) were analyzed to better understand those concepts. Gender, age, education, and lack of activity limitations were strongly associated with web-based education use in the general US population and in California residents. In both sets of data, the rate of searching for online health information was higher in women, younger people, more educated people, those not having an activity limitation and those in excellent/good health, as opposed to fair/poor health. In California residents, case studies of asthmatics, diabetics, and people with heart disease showed that health confidence levels were correlated with a lack of physical activity limitations and excellent/good health, instead of fair/poor health. For specific chronic illnesses, more men than women reported higher levels of health confidence. No previous studies have compared the health confidence levels of people with specific chronic diseases, or explored obstacles to health confidence in those same populations. The findings about health confidence and implications for health education were shared with a group of subject matter experts. They confirmed the usefulness of this research contribution.
Digital Media
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