Health Information Seeking Behaviours of the Elderly in a Technology-Amplified Social Environment

Abstract

This paper reports on a literature review, which aims to understand, analyse and provide a perspective on mechanisms influence the health information seeking behaviours (HISB) of the elderly in a technology-amplified social environment. This study adopted a literature analysis approach, for the analysis of articles retrieved from Web of Science and PubMed academic databases. Based on the “Technology Amplification Theory” proposed by Toyama, the literature analysis pointed to four mechanisms: the intention of the technology products, the access to health information, the capability of the elderly to apply information technology, and the motivation of the elderly’s HISB. Although this study focuses on the elderly, the research findings also provide useful implications and insights for researches on other age groups faced with the digital divide.