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Cognitive aspects: health knowledge and understanding of health information

Cognitive aspects: health knowledge and understanding of health information. NORSLIS workshop 7-8 June 2007 Kristina Eriksson-Backa Information Studies Åbo Akademi University. Cognition (Lat. cognoscere, know).

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Cognitive aspects: health knowledge and understanding of health information

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  1. Cognitive aspects: health knowledge and understanding of health information NORSLIS workshop 7-8 June 2007 Kristina Eriksson-Backa Information Studies Åbo Akademi University

  2. Cognition (Lat. cognoscere, know) • how a person obtains, uses, remembers, mediates and develops knowledge (Hautamäki 1988. p. 11) • some kinds of activities, including perception, memory storage, retrieval, encoding, decoding, analysing, combining, transforming, and pattern completion (De Coster et al. 1977) .

  3. Cognitive processes (Allen 1991) • mental activities such as thinking, imagining, remembering, and problem solving. • used when seeking and finding information through an information system.

  4. Knowledge • accumulation and integration of the information that has been given by a certain unit (Meadow & Yuan 1997). • the result of a process that takes place when an attentive, experiencing subject asks intelligent questions on some data that have caught its attention, and passes reasonable judgements on the theories that have been formed by the answers to these questions (Hoel 1980).

  5. Knowledge vs. information • knowledge is information which has been modified, acquired and assimilated by the separate human being. Knowledge is information which has been given the chance to take root and mature (Ingelstam 1987, p. 18)

  6. Knowledge vs. information • Information becomes knowledge when a human being has processed it to make a part of his own knowledge structure. When knowledge is separated from its context it becomes information. Knowledge is, thus, information which has been processed by a human, and has been assimilated through learning (Holma et al. 1997, p. 9).

  7. Schemata/knowledge structures • a way to organise the mess of visual data we have around us, by bringing models of what we think we see in front of us out from the memory (Cole 1994) • used, for example, when something has been left out from a text, and helps the reader to add information, which is not explicitly written in the text (Kitao 1989, s. 3).

  8. Understanding of information • A person understands a message if s/he can a) realize what follows a certain message, b) realize what is excluded by a certain message and c) realize what is relevant by a certain message (Waern 1978)

  9. Understanding of information • The basis for understanding of news is the gathered knowledge and experiences of a person. To be able to grasp the contents of a news programme, the activation of a sum of knowledge about the world is required. To already have some knowledge about a topic leads to more comprehension of and better learning from new information on the topic (Höijer 1984, 171f.)

  10. Studies on health knowledge • Studies show large variations in the existing knowledge of health issues, and these are often due to demographic factors. • Women often show better knowledge of health than do men, and older people often have better knowledge than do younger people. • The knowledge of relationships between food and health also seems to vary. People, however, are often aware of general dietary recommendations.

  11. Type of information source and knowledge • Information from media sources can be good at enhancing knowledge on health or medical matters (e.g. O’Connor et al. 1999). • Relationships between the sources a person uses for acquiring health information and the existing knowledge of some health matter information (e.g. Meissner, Potosky & Convissor 1992).

  12. Information seeking and knowledge • More activity in seeking information and in discussing health matters with others seems to lead to higher level of knowledge (Eriksson-Backa 2003). • Acquiring information from multiple sources was associated with a better knowledge of the symptoms of heart attack than low information acquisition was (Meischke et al. 2002).

  13. Knowledge and behaviour • When a person (or a group) has obtained adequate knowledge, perhaps by means of information seeking, the behaviour might be selected to maximize the probability of obtaining the best possible consequence of the action which has been chosen, or to minimize the possibility of the worst consequence (Allen 1997). • Knowledge alone, however, does not guarantee change of behaviour (Rakowski et al. 1990; Barratt 2001).

  14. Knowledge and health behaviour • Good knowledge, bad behaviour (Arnold et al. 2001; Sejr & Osler 2002). • Low levels of knowledge, good behaviour (Gupta, Kumar & Stewart 2002; Saint-Germain & Longman 1993). • Low levels of knowledge and bad behaviour (Gupta, Kumar and Stewart 2002; Lagerlund et al. 2000; McCaffery, Wardle & Waller 2003). • Good knowledge, good behaviour(Albrecht, Higgins & Lebow 2000; Lee, Kim & Ham 2000; Westaway & Viljoen 2000)

  15. Health literacy • “the ability to read, understand, and act on health information” (Pfizer Clear Health Communication Initiative). • “represents the cognitive and social skills which determine the motivation and ability of individuals to gain access to, understand and use information in ways which promote and maintain good health” (World Health Organization 1998: 10).

  16. Barriers to understanding of health-related information • use of medical terminology, lack of communication skills and an arrogant attitude among the doctors, as well as lack of time (Glenton 2002; Lyons, Fanshawe & Lip 2002; Majerovitz et al. 1997). • Sometimes no information might be given at all, or then it is given only orally, and is easily forgotten (Browne et al. 2000)

  17. Barriers to understanding of health-related information • different doctors give different advice on how to live, which makes the patient confused (Laitinen, Olsson & Karlberg 1999). • lower levels of literacy or education (Berland et al. 2001; Murero, D’Ancona & Karamanoukian 2001; Parker, Ratzan & Lurie 2003).

  18. Barriers to understanding of health-related information • language barriers (Internet information, immigrants)(Courtright 2004; Glenton 2002; Phul, Bath & Jackson 2003). • Especially among the elderly problems with memory (Benson & Forman 2002).

  19. Suggestions • The form of the information source and contents, the used language, and the level of abstraction should be taken into consideration when providing health-related information. • Information and education should not only be provided to passive receivers, but the receivers themselves should be involved in the acquisition of health information. • Do not forget the power of motivation!

  20. Thank you for your attention!

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