The role of social support and social networks in health information–seeking behavior among Korean Americans: a qualitative study

International Journal for Equity in Health

Cha-Nam Shin¹  Gary L Kreps²  Wonsun Kim¹ 

[1] College of Nursing & Health Innovation, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA;Department of Communication, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

关键词: Immigrants;    Korean Americans;    Social networks;    Social support;    Health disparities;    Health information;   

Others  :  1206288
DOI  :  10.1186/s12939-015-0169-8

 received in 2014-10-29, accepted in 2015-04-15,  发布年份 2015

【 摘 要 】

Introduction

This study used social network theory to explore the role of social support and social networks in health information–seeking behavior among Korean American (KA) adults.

Methods

A descriptive qualitative study using a web-based online survey was conducted from January 2013 to April 2013 in the U.S. The survey included open-ended questions about health information–seeking experiences in personal social networks and their importance in KA adults. Themes emerging from a constant comparative analysis of the narrative comments by 129 of the 202 respondents were analyzed.

Results

The sample consisted of 129 KA adults, 64.7% female, with a mean age of 33.2 (SD = 7.7). Friends, church members, and family members were the important network connections for KAs to obtain health information. KAs looked for a broad range of health information from social network members, from recommendations and reviews of hospitals/doctors to specific diseases or health conditions. These social networks were regarded as important for KAs because there were no language barriers, social network members had experiences similar to those of other KAs, they felt a sense of belonging with those in their networks, the network connections promoted increased understanding of different health care systems of the U.S. system, and communication with these network connections helped enhance feelings of being physically and mentally healthy.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates the important role that social support and personal social networks perform in the dissemination of health information for a large ethnic population, KAs, who confront distinct cultural challenges when seeking health information in the U.S. Data from this study also illustrate the cultural factors that influence health information acquisition and access to social support for ethnic minorities. This study provides practical insights for professionals in health information services, namely, that social networks can be employed as a channel for disseminating health information to immigrants.

【 授权许可】

   
2015 Kim et al.; licensee BioMed Central.

【 参考文献 】

• [1]Oh KM, Kreps GL, Jun J, Chong E, Ramsey L. Examining the Health Information–Seeking Behaviors of Korean Americans. J Health Commun. 2012; 17(7):779-801.
• [2]Anker AE, Reinhart AM, Feeley TH. Health information seeking: a review of measures and methods. Patient Educ Couns. 2011; 82(3):346-354.
• [3]Kim W, Kreps GL. The Association between Online Health Information-seeking Behavior and Social Support in Social Networks among Korean Americans. Health Behav Pol Rev. 2014; 1(5):381-394.
• [4]McKinley CJ, Wright PJ. Informational social support and online health information seeking: Examining the association between factors contributing to healthy eating behavior. Comput Hum Behav. 2014; 37:107-116.
• [5]Oh KM, Zhou QP, Kreps G, Kim W. The influences of immigration on health information seeking behaviors among Korean Americans and native Koreans. Health Educ Behav. 2014; 41(2):173-185.
• [6]Park H, Park MS. Cancer Information-Seeking Behaviors and Information Needs Among Korean Americans in the Online Community. J Community Health. 2014; 39(2):213-220.
• [7]Johnson JD, Case DO. Health Information Seeking. Peter Lang, New York, NY; 2012.
• [8]Lambert SD, Loiselle CG. Health information seeking behavior. Qual Health Res. 2007; 17(8):1006-1019.
• [9]Basu A, Dutta MJ. The relationship between health information seeking and community participation: The roles of health information orientation and efficacy. Health Commun. 2008; 23(1):70-79.
• [10]Courtright C. Health information-seeking among Latino newcomers: an exploratory study. Inf Res. 2005; 10(2):10-12.
• [11]Oh KM, Kreps GL, Jun J, Ramsey L. Cancer information seeking and awareness of cancer information sources among Korean Americans. J Cancer Educ. 2011; 26(2):355-364.
• [12]Heaney CA, Israel BA. Social networks and social support. Health behavior and health education: Theory, research, and practice 2002, 3:185–209.
• [13]Johnson CA. Choosing people: the role of social capital in information seeking behaviour. Inf Res. 2004; 10(1):10-11.
• [14]Christakis NA, Fowler JH. Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How they Shape Our Lives: Hachette Digital, Inc.; 2009.
• [15]Rios R, Aiken LS, Zautra AJ. Neighborhood contexts and the mediating role of neighborhood social cohesion on health and psychological distress among Hispanic and non-Hispanic residents. Ann Behav Med. 2012; 43(1):50-61.
• [16]Shelton RC, McNeill LH, Puleo E, Wolin KY, Emmons KM, Bennett GG. The association between social factors and physical activity among low-income adults living in public housing. Am J Public Health. 2011; 101(11):2102-2110.
• [17]U.S. Census Bureau: The Asian population: 2010: 2010 Census Briefs. 2012.
• [18]Oh KM, Jun J, Zhou Q, Kreps G. Korean American Women’s Perceptions about Physical Examinations and Cancer Screening Services Offered in Korea: The Influences of Medical Tourism on Korean Americans. J Community Health. 2014; 39(2):221-229.
• [19]McDonnell DD, Lee H, Kim Y, Kazinets G, Moskowitz JM. Cancer coverage in a mainstream and Korean American online newspaper: lessons for community intervention. Patient Educ Couns. 2008; 71(3):388-395.
• [20]Kreps GL, Sparks L. Meeting the health literacy needs of immigrant populations. Patient Educ Couns. 2008; 71(3):328-332.
• [21]Lee S, Choi S, Jung M. Ethnic Variation in Access to Health Care of Asian Americans Who are Not US Citizens: Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese Ethnic Groups. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2014; 25(2):577-590.
• [22]Lee JY, Kearns RA, Friesen W. Seeking affective health care: Korean immigrants’ use of homeland medical services. Health Place. 2010; 16(1):108-115.
• [23]McCracken M, Olsen M, Chen MS, Jemal A, Thun M, Cokkinides V et al.. Cancer incidence, mortality, and associated risk factors among Asian Americans of Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese ethnicities. CA Cancer J Clin. 2007; 57(4):190-205.
• [24]Jemal A, Tiwari RC, Murray T, Ghafoor A, Samuels A, Ward E et al.. American Cancer Society: Cancer statistics, 2004. CA Cancer J Clin. 2004; 54(1):8-29.
• [25]Guendelman S, Schauffler H, Samuels S. Differential access and utilization of health services by immigrant and native-born children in working poor families in California. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2002; 13(1):12-23.
• [26]Zuckerman S, Waidmann TA, Lawton E. Undocumented immigrants, left out of health reform, likely to continue to grow as share of the uninsured. Health Aff (Millwood). 2011; 30(10):1997-2004.
• [27]Lee S, Sobal J, Frongillo EA. Comparison of Models of Acculturation The Case of Korean Americans. J Cross-Cult Psychol. 2003; 34(3):282-296.
• [28]Cohen S. Social relationships and health. Am Psychol. 2004; 59(8):676.
• [29]Cohen S, Lemay EP. Why would social networks be linked to affect and health practices? Health Psychol. 2007; 26(4):410.
• [30]Berkman LF, Glass T, Brissette I, Seeman TE. From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium. Soc Sci Med. 2000; 51(6):843-857.
• [31]Uchino BN. Social Support and Physical Health: Understanding the Health Consequences of Relationships. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT; 2004.
• [32]Uchino BN. Social support and health: a review of physiological processes potentially underlying links to disease outcomes. J Behav Med. 2006; 29(4):377-387.
• [33]Cross R, Rice RE, Parker A. Information seeking in social context: Structural influences and receipt of information benefits. Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part C: Applications and Reviews, IEEE Transactions on 2001, 31(4):438–448.
• [34]Marsden PV, Campbell KE. Measuring tie strength. Soc Forces. 1984; 63(2):482-501.
• [35]Granovetter M. The strength of weak ties: A network theory revisited. Sociol Theory. 1983; 1(1):201-233.
• [36]Choi KS, Lee S, Park E, Kwak M, Spring BJ, Juon H. Comparison of breast cancer screening rates between Korean women in America versus Korea. J Womens Health. 2010; 19(6):1089-1096.
• [37]Maxwell AE, Crespi CM, Antonio CM, Lu P. Explaining disparities in colorectal cancer screening among five Asian ethnic groups: a population-based study in California. BMC Cancer. 2010; 10:214.
• [38]Lee H, Kim J, Han H. Do cultural factors predict mammography behaviour among Korean immigrants in the USA? J Adv Nurs. 2009; 65(12):2574-2584.
• [39]Moskowitz JM, Kazinets G, Wong JM, Tager IB. “Health is strength”: A community health education program to improve breast and cervical cancer screening among Korean American Women in Alameda County, California. Cancer Detect Prev. 2007; 31(2):173-183.
• [40]U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Healthy People 2010: Understanding and improving health. 2010.
• [41]Kim S, Yoon J. The use of an online forum for health information by married Korean women in the United States. Inf Res. 2012; 17(2):514.
• [42]Corbin J, Strauss A. Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA; 2008.
• [43]Guba EG, Lincoln YS. Competing paradigms in qualitative research. Handbook Qual Res. 1994; 2:163-194.
• [44]Morse JM, Barrett M, Mayan M, Olson K, Spiers J. Verification strategies for establishing reliability and validity in qualitative research. Int J Qual Meth. 2008; 1(2):13-22.
• [45]Creswell JW. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Sage Publications, Incorporated, Thousand Oaks, CA; 2013.
• [46]Blieszner R. The Worth of Friendship: Can Friends Keep Us Happy and Healthy? Generations. 2014; 38(1):24-30.
• [47]Adams RG, Allan G. Placing Friendship in Context. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; 1998.
• [48]Kim KC, Kim S. Ethnic roles of Korean immigrant churches in the United States. In: Korean Americans and their Religions: Pilgrims and Missionaries from a different Shore. Kwan HY, Kim KC, Warner RS, editors. Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park; 2001: p.71-94.
• [49]Hurh WM, Kim KC. Religious participation of Korean immigrants in the United States. J Sci Study Relig. 1990; 29(1):19-34.
• [50]Min PG, Kim DY. Intergenerational transmission of religion and culture: Korean Protestants in the US. Sociol Relig. 2005; 66(3):263-282.
• [51]Kahana F, Kahana B, Johnson JR, Hammond RJ, Kercher K. Developmental challenges and family caregiving. In: Family caregiving across the lifespan. Biegel DE, Wykle ML, Kahana E, editors. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA; 1994: p.3-41.
• [52]Lewis MA, Rook KS. Social control in personal relationships: impact on health behaviors and psychological distress. Health Psychol. 1999; 18(1):63.
• [53]Weihs K, Fisher L, Baird M. Families, health, and behavior: A section of the commissioned report by the Committee on Health and Behavior: Research, Practice, and Policy Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Health and Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences. Fam Syst Health. 2002; 20(1):7.
• [54]McMichael C, Manderson L. Somali women and well-being: Social networks and social capital among immigrant women in Australia. Hum Organ. 2004; 63(1):88-99.
• [55]Jo AM, Maxwell AE, Rick AJ, Cha J, Bastani R. Why are Korean American physicians reluctant to recommend colorectal cancer screening to Korean American patients? Exploratory interview findings. J Immigr Minor Health. 2009; 11(4):302-309.
• [56]Kakai H, Maskarinec G, Shumay DM, Tatsumura Y, Tasaki K. Ethnic differences in choices of health information by cancer patients using complementary and alternative medicine: an exploratory study with correspondence analysis. Soc Sci Med. 2003; 56(4):851-862.
• [57]Yi YJ, Stvilia B, Mon L. Cultural influences on seeking quality health information: An exploratory study of the Korean community. Libr Inf Sci Res. 2012; 34(1):45-51.
• [58]Pourat N, Lubben J, Wallace SP, Moon A. Predictors of use of traditional Korean healers among elderly Koreans in Los Angeles. Gerontologist. 1999; 39(6):711-719.
• [59]New California Media: Bridging Language Barriers in Health Care: Public Opinion Survey of California Immigrants from Latin America, Asia and The Middle East 2003.
• [60]Oh KM, Kreps GL, Jun J. Colorectal cancer screening knowledge, beliefs, and practices of Korean Americans. Am J Health Behav. 2013; 37(3):381-394.
• [61]Chen MS. Cancer health disparities among Asian Americans. Cancer. 2005; 104(S12):2895-2902.