Romanian and German Seniors in Quest of Online Health-Related Information: An Exploratory Comparative Study
Journal Title: Revista Română de Comunicare şi Relaţii Publice - Year 2018, Vol 20, Issue 1
Abstract
In the last years a shift in the practice of medical communication has occurred and it leads to a displacement from a paternalistic model of patient-provider information toward a model implying an embeddedness of the medical and human values in the medical interaction and in the decision-taking process of the informed patient. Researches show that older adults respond differently to online communication than younger adults. In this context, seniors face new challenges as regards health-related information and medical communication. The present study deals comparatively with the health-related internet use by the seniors in two European countries: Romania and Germany. Using a qualitative methodology, which involved the in-depth semi-structured interviewing of twenty persons aged 65 years or over who used the internet including for health-related search, we tried to find out which are the similarities and differences between the two samples as concerns health-related online informing and medical communication. Our research has revealed a number of interesting results and inferences. Thus, while between the two samples there are similarities as regards using the internet as a starting point for general information related to health and making informed medical decisions, there exist also a series of differences as regards various aspects, such as the health-related internet use itself – the interest and the ways of searching, the accessed content and websites, the trust in the reliability of the online information, the online feedback and activism etc., as well as the openness to discuss with the physicians about the information gained by the internet consumption.
Authors and Affiliations
Valentina Marinescu, Simona Rodat
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP292168
- DOI 10.21018/rjcpr.2018.1.251
- Views 136
- Downloads 0
Exploring Physician-Older Patient Communication. A Qualitative Analysis of Communication between Older Patients and General Practitioners
An great body of research has been carried out to study physician-patient communication and its impact on quality of care, patient satisfaction, treatment and health. Good physician-patient communication is proved to inc...
Highlighting Racial Demonization in 3D Animated Films and Its Implications: A Semiotic Analysis of Frankenweenie
This article focuses on a semiotic analysis of Frankenweenie, one of Disney Picture’s 3D animated films. Anchored within the psychoanalytic film theory, the aim was to highlight how animated films, as colorful and comic...
Brain Drain Phenomenon in Romania: What Comes in Line after Corruption? A Quantitative Analysis of the Determinant Causes of Romanian Skilled Migration
Romanians’ rapidly increasing exodus over the borders, in the last years, propelled Romania to the top countries with the highest international migration rates worldwide. A rate of 7.3% per annum, recorded between 2000 a...
Women Gossip and Men Brag: Perceived Gender Differences in the Use of Humor by Romanian Older Women
The present study investigates perceived gender differences in the producion and social use of humor in the interpersonal communication of Romanian older women, aged 60 and above. The study is a qualitative investigation...
Nation Branding in Romania After 1989: A Cultural Semiotic Perspective
This paper discusses four nation branding post-communist campaigns initiated by the Romanian Government, from a cultural semiotic perspective, as developed by the Tartu-Moscow-Semiotic School. In so doing, it focuses on...