Searching health information via the Web: Hong Kong Chinese older adults' experience

Objective and sample: This paper reports on the learning experience of 88 Chinese older adults who attended a health Web-navigating workshop. Design: Through a 3-hr training workshop, participants were guided to browse through seven health Web sites that provide authoritative health information by the Hong Kong government, academic institutions, or professional bodies. Methods: Upon completion of the workshop, an evaluation was made of the participants' confidence in navigating health Web sites by themselves at home and in utilizing the health information sources. Results: The findings indicated that participants' confidence in seeking health information via the Internet was not associated with their age, educational level, or experience of using computers before the workshop but was significantly associated with their satisfaction with the workshop (p < .05). Significant change of source of health information was noted at follow-up, suggesting that the workshop was successful. Conclusions: Implications of the results for running health Web-navigating programs among Chinese older adults are discussed.