The Coronavirus Health Crisis, Social Media, and Online Health Information Seeking Behaviour of Older Adults in Nigeria

Abstract

Older adults or the elderly are part of the group of peeople that make up a majority of the health burdens in society, and the outbreak of coronavirus or COVID – 19 has further placed them in a risky position due to their age. Going by the latter statement, the research examines the impact of social media on this population’s online health information-seeking behaviour in the face of the global coronavirus health crisis in Nigeria. The study employed Krejcie and Morgan’s (1970) technique for ascertaining the sample size for a given population, and arrived at a sample of 384 quantitatively surveyed through a questionnaire. The study concluded that social media positively impacted the health behaviour of the research population, and the information sought on social media is reliable, and it also influenced their behaviour positively. However, the authors warn that online health information seekers, especially older adults, should always exercise caution as not all information obtained on social media on various health issues, including the coronavirus, is accurate. Besides, consumers of online health information should be thorough and active users of social media; they should use their human senses to discern between false and true health information. Further, they should also verify such information with health professionals if the need arises. Given the limitations enumerated in this study, the authors suggest that further studies are essential to validate the results of this research.

Keywords

• Social Media
• Elderly
• health
• information seeking behaviour
• health crisis
• COVID-19

Koronavirüs Sağlık Krizi, Sosyal Medya ve Nijerya’daki Yaşlı Yetişkinlerin Çevrimiçi Sağlık Bilgisi Arama Davranışı

Abstract

Yaşça ileri olan bireyler toplumda genellikle sağlık sorunlarını daha fazla yaşamakta olup, COVID-19 döneminde ç´şitli tehditlere maruz kalmışlardır. Bu doğrultuda bu çalışmada sosyal medyanın, bu toplumsal grubun çevrimiçi sağlık bilgisi araştırma davranışları Nijerya bağlamında incelenmektedir. Çalışmada Krejcie ve Morgan (1970) tekniği uygulanarak örneklem belirlenmesi yapılmış ve nicel bir araştırmayla 384 kişiye anket uygulanmıştır. Sonuç olarak çalışmada sosyal medyanın sağlık davranışlarını olumlu etkilediği ortaya çıkmış ve sosyal medyadan elde edilen bilgiler güvenilir bulunmuştur. Diğer yandan çalışmada sosyal medyadan elde edilen verilerin her zaman doğru olmayabileceğinden hareketle yaşı ilerlemiş bireylerin sosyal medyada sağlık bilgilerini takip ederken dikkat etmesi gerektiğinin altı çizilmektedir. Sosyal medyada doğru ve yanlış bilginin ayırt edilmesinin sağlanması önem taşımakta, bilgilerin mutlaka sağlık profesyonellerine danışılarak kontrol edilmesi gerekmektedir. Bu alanda gerçekleştirilerek gelecek çalışmaların konuya farklı açılardan ışık tutması amaçlanmıştır.

Keywords

• COVID-19
• yaşlılar
• sağlık
• sağlık iletişimi
• Bilgi-Arama Davranışı
• Sosyal medya

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