TY - JOUR
T1 - Profiling Cancer Patients Based on Their Motives for Seeking Informational and Emotional Support Online
AU - Duimel, S.L.L.
AU - Linn, A.J.
AU - Smets, Ellen M A
AU - Smit, E.S.
AU - van Weert, J.C.M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2023/11/15
Y1 - 2023/11/15
N2 - Understanding why patients seek informational and/or emotional support online is fundamental to providing patients with accurate and reliable support that is tailored to their needs, preferences, and personal situation. Based on the stress and coping theory and uses and gratifications theory (UGT), this study aimed to identify theoretically-founded profiles of cancer patients differing in their motives for seeking informational and/or emotional support online, and to compare the profiles in terms of patients’ psychological and background characteristics, and perception of health care services. Hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted, using questionnaire data from patients visiting a large Dutch health website (N = 181). This revealed three distinctive profiles, i.e., overall seekers (n = 83, 46.0%), occasional information seekers (n = 83, 46.0%), and contact exchangers (n = 15, 8.0%). Patients across these profiles differed in their eHealth literacy, with the contact exchangers being more eHealth literate than the overall seekers and occasional information seekers. The results can be used to create awareness among health care providers, web designers, and patient organizations on different types of cancer patients with different motives for seeking informational and/or emotional support online, and help them to tailor recommendations to and development of (online) sources that fit patients’ needs. Future research could further investigate the integration of stress and coping theory with UGT by acknowledging the interplay of different coping strategies and different gratifications.
AB - Understanding why patients seek informational and/or emotional support online is fundamental to providing patients with accurate and reliable support that is tailored to their needs, preferences, and personal situation. Based on the stress and coping theory and uses and gratifications theory (UGT), this study aimed to identify theoretically-founded profiles of cancer patients differing in their motives for seeking informational and/or emotional support online, and to compare the profiles in terms of patients’ psychological and background characteristics, and perception of health care services. Hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted, using questionnaire data from patients visiting a large Dutch health website (N = 181). This revealed three distinctive profiles, i.e., overall seekers (n = 83, 46.0%), occasional information seekers (n = 83, 46.0%), and contact exchangers (n = 15, 8.0%). Patients across these profiles differed in their eHealth literacy, with the contact exchangers being more eHealth literate than the overall seekers and occasional information seekers. The results can be used to create awareness among health care providers, web designers, and patient organizations on different types of cancer patients with different motives for seeking informational and/or emotional support online, and help them to tailor recommendations to and development of (online) sources that fit patients’ needs. Future research could further investigate the integration of stress and coping theory with UGT by acknowledging the interplay of different coping strategies and different gratifications.
KW - cluster analysis
KW - eHealth literacy
KW - motives
KW - online support seeking
KW - stress and coping theory
KW - uses and gratifications theory
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85142338677&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2022.2144287
DO - https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2022.2144287
M3 - Article
C2 - 36415021
SN - 1041-0236
VL - 38
SP - 3223
EP - 3237
JO - Health Communication
JF - Health Communication
IS - 14
ER -