The Impact of Trust in E-Government on Electronic Health Literacy

The electronic information the U.S. government provides to the public on health issues may impact health literacy, suggested by indicators including the perception of quality and security of information and confidence in health information utilized. The study uses social cognitive theory (SCT) to develop a foundation for why patients are affected by sources of health information around them. A logistic regression is conducted on 2007 HINTS survey data in order to assess how trust in different types of information sources (e-government, the Internet, charitable organizations, television, etc.) impact health literacy indicators. The result of the study suggests that greater trust in health information from e-government increases patient perception of information security and confidence in health information, but does not impact perception of quality of health information. The study suggests how e-government information affects self-efficacy and interest in e-health literacy and provides policy analysis of direct and indirect initiatives that e-government can take in the future to improve on current health literacy outcomes. The study summarizes the results and policy analysis on the impact of e-government on e-health literacy for the community.