Online health information seeking: How people with multiple sclerosis find, assess and integrate treatment information to manage their health Synnot,AJ, Hill,SJ, Garner,KA, Summers,MP, Filippini,G, Osborne,RH, Shapland,SD, Colombo,C and Mosconi,P 2016, Online health information seeking: How people with multiple sclerosis find, assess and integrate treatment information to manage their health, Health Expectations, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 727-737, doi: 10.1111/hex.12253. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title Online health information seeking: How people with multiple sclerosis find, assess and integrate treatment information to manage their health Author(s) Synnot,AJ Hill,SJ Garner,KA Summers,MP Filippini,G Osborne,RH Shapland,SD Colombo,C Mosconi,P Journal name Health Expectations Volume number 19 Issue number 3 Start page 727 End page 737 Total pages 11 Publisher Wiley Place of publication London, Eng. Publication date 2016-06 ISSN 1369-6513 1369-7625 Keyword(s) Health information Internet Multiple sclerosis Qualitative research Summary Background and objective: The Internet is increasingly prominent as a source of health information for people with multiple sclerosis (MS). But there has been little exploration of the needs, experiences and preferences of people with MS for integrating treatment information into decision making, in the context of searching on the Internet. This was the aim of our study. Design: Sixty participants (51 people with MS; nine family members) took part in a focus group or online forum. They were asked to describe how they find and assess reliable treatment information (particularly online) and how this changes over time. Thematic analysis was underpinned by a coding frame. Results: Participants described that there was both too much information online and too little that applied to them. They spoke of wariness and scepticism but also empowerment. The availability of up-to-date and unbiased treatment information, including practical and lifestyle-related information, was important to many. Many participants were keen to engage in a 'research partnership' with health professionals and developed a range of strategies to enhance the trustworthiness of online information. We use the term 'self-regulation' to capture the variations in information seeking behaviour that participants described over time, as they responded to their changing information needs, their emotional state and growing expertise about MS. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Language eng DOI 10.1111/hex.12253 Field of Research 119999 Medical and Health Sciences not elsewhere classified Socio Economic Objective 929999 Health not elsewhere classified HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal ERA Research output type C Journal article Copyright notice ©2016, Wiley Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30067594 Document type: Journal Article Collections: Faculty of Health School of Health and Social Development Population Health Related Links Link Description Connect to Elements publication management system Go to link with your DU access privileges   Connect to published version Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Versions Version Filter Type Thu, 20 Nov 2014, 13:16:01 EST Mon, 05 Jan 2015, 09:09:38 EST Tue, 06 Jan 2015, 04:00:48 EST Tue, 06 Jan 2015, 05:05:48 EST Thu, 08 Jan 2015, 14:02:19 EST Thu, 08 Jan 2015, 14:05:04 EST Thu, 08 Jan 2015, 14:06:50 EST Tue, 14 Apr 2015, 14:50:26 EST Wed, 01 Jul 2015, 10:19:17 EST Mon, 18 Jul 2016, 15:31:05 EST Mon, 25 Jul 2016, 09:19:13 EST Mon, 25 Jul 2016, 09:20:33 EST Mon, 25 Jul 2016, 09:26:44 EST Mon, 25 Jul 2016, 09:34:27 EST Mon, 25 Jul 2016, 12:50:25 EST Wed, 12 Oct 2016, 13:10:21 EST Wed, 01 Mar 2017, 07:00:36 EST Fri, 21 Apr 2017, 07:02:08 EST Wed, 07 Oct 2020, 16:35:32 EST Sat, 16 Jul 2022, 16:37:03 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 35 times in TR Web of Science Cited 3 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 631 Abstract Views, 3 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Mon, 05 Jan 2015, 09:09:38 EST