Parents' use of social media for health information : an Australian mixed methods study
- Publication Type:
- Thesis
- Issue Date:
- 2024
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Summary
Aim:
This doctoral research project explores Australian parents’ use of social media for health information for their children. This thesis aims to explore the prevalence of social media use by parents for health information as well as the characteristics and determinants of this use, including health literacy and critical thinking. This thesis will also investigate how parents use social media to find health information for their children, including platforms accessed and how this use intersects with health professional visits.
Method:
A convergent mixed methods research design was used, including a scoping review, a nationally representative survey of 1000 Australian parents stratified by gender and state, and semi-structured interviews of parents (n=19).
Results:
The majority (82.2%) of Australian parents of children aged 6 months to 5 years that use social media, use it to access health information for their children. Parents aged between 30 and 39 and born in Australia are most likely to use social media for health information. Parents of children of all ages use social media for support and insights based on other parents’ lived experience and information. A direct inverse relationship between parents’ health literacy and their use of social media for health information was observed.
Conclusion:
The majority of Australian parents use social media to seek health information for their children. Given the variable quality of health information on social media, research to improve parental health literacy and reduce dependence on social media for health information is warranted.
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