A comparative study of children's ehealth design between east and west: A case study of children's health websites in China, Taiwan, the UK, and the US

Abstract

A good developing model of children's health could reduce health care costs and improve quality of life across the children life span. What are the key communication issues and technology concerns involved in the design of children's health websites? When parents evaluate a children health website, they always have some concerns: Is the health information credible? Is the interpretation clear and adequate? Is the media application suitable? Is the interface design user-friendly? With recent advances in computer technology, its impact on health communication is continually increasing. However, how to design an effective children's health website to enhance parents' cognition, to promote their active processing, and to increase their interaction frequency, is still very much a question that remains unanswered. This research was implemented in three stages. Firstly, the Chinese keywords, and the English keywords, "children's health website" were entered into Google to search for the 20 most popular Chinese and English-speaking websites. Secondly, existing literature was reviewed to ascertain the critical category and evaluation guidelines for designing children's eHealth. Thirdly and finally, a selection of these websites from China, Taiwan, the UK, and the US were evaluated by using a content analysis methodology, applying the criteria developed from the literature review. This study finds that in terms of information design, credibility is better presented in the West than in the East, whereas users' needs are better presented in the East than in the West. In terms of multimedia design, demonstrations and humanity are better presented in the West than in the East, and the segmentation of demonstrations is valued by both the East and the West. In terms of interface design, the West presents a better appearance than the East, and methodology is valued by both the East and the West. © 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.