Health Care and Health Information Access by Parents With Young Children in Regional Queensland

Abstract

Objective: The effects of childhood health, education and experiences can have long-term impacts on adult health and wellbeing. Access to health services and information can be complex especially in regional and rural areas of Australia. This research aimed to: (1) investigate how and where parents living in regional and rural Australia with young children search for health information and (2) explore how parents decide what is appropriate health information to enable them to meet the health needs of their families. Setting: Regional and rural areas of Southern Queensland. Participants: Parents with a child under the age of 5 years. Design: A convergent mixed methods design was utilised. Parents participated in an online survey and were invited to in-depth semi-structured telephone interviews about their health information search methods. Inductive content analysis was applied to the transcripts. Results: The 11 interviewees searched for health information when their child was unwell, using the internet, family and friends and GPs and medical services. Websites were used for health information, whereas social media sites provided support and connection. The internet helped determine when to seek medical advice, and a preference was shown for Australian, hospital and government websites and websites recommended by GPs. Conclusion: The results may inform the development of targeted hospital and government websites to ensure all parents have easy access to evidence-based children's health information. GPs may also play a role in discussing internet-sourced health information with parents.