The practice of information appraisal: An ethnographic study of a health information intervention

TY - JOUR

T1 - The practice of information appraisal

T2 - An ethnographic study of a health information intervention

AU - Grøn, Ronja Rosenberg

AU - Christiansen, Charlotte Ettrup

AU - Strøm, Janni

AU - Høybye, Mette Terp

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2023.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - As healthcare systems grow increasingly complex, greater demands are placed on patients’ abilities to find, understand, appraise, and use health information – often termed their ‘health literacy’. Most health literacy research does not focus on information appraisal. When it does, there is a tendency to equate it with patients’ assessment of credibility. This reproduces a healthcare-centric understanding of information appraisal where patient agency is omitted. This study explores how participants in a health information intervention practiced information appraisal. The intervention aimed to increase information uptake for people with low back pain by delivering health information to them through animations. This study draws on ethnographic participant observation of the encounters between the intervention and its participants, including 49 rapid interviews and semi-structured telephone interviews with 23 participants carried out in the spring of 2021. Inspired by a social practice approach, the study thoroughly grounds the health literacy subcategory of ‘appraisal’ in practice. It illustrates that participants appraised the information provided in the intervention according to several factors. These include relating the information to their personal health needs, interpreting the intended audience of the health animations, and prioritising their attention situationally between the animations and other immediate concerns. We suggest that information appraisal is a fundamental component of health literacy and should be considered key in research, policy and practice. To accommodate current healthcare ideals of patient centeredness, empowerment and informed choice, the complex and dynamic ways in which people appraise health information need be considered legitimate practices of health literacy.

AB - As healthcare systems grow increasingly complex, greater demands are placed on patients’ abilities to find, understand, appraise, and use health information – often termed their ‘health literacy’. Most health literacy research does not focus on information appraisal. When it does, there is a tendency to equate it with patients’ assessment of credibility. This reproduces a healthcare-centric understanding of information appraisal where patient agency is omitted. This study explores how participants in a health information intervention practiced information appraisal. The intervention aimed to increase information uptake for people with low back pain by delivering health information to them through animations. This study draws on ethnographic participant observation of the encounters between the intervention and its participants, including 49 rapid interviews and semi-structured telephone interviews with 23 participants carried out in the spring of 2021. Inspired by a social practice approach, the study thoroughly grounds the health literacy subcategory of ‘appraisal’ in practice. It illustrates that participants appraised the information provided in the intervention according to several factors. These include relating the information to their personal health needs, interpreting the intended audience of the health animations, and prioritising their attention situationally between the animations and other immediate concerns. We suggest that information appraisal is a fundamental component of health literacy and should be considered key in research, policy and practice. To accommodate current healthcare ideals of patient centeredness, empowerment and informed choice, the complex and dynamic ways in which people appraise health information need be considered legitimate practices of health literacy.

KW - ethnography

KW - health policy

KW - organisation of health services

KW - social inequalities in health

KW - technology in healthcare

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85174685443&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/13634593231204173

DO - 10.1177/13634593231204173

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 37873954

AN - SCOPUS:85174685443

SN - 1363-4593

JO - Health (United Kingdom)

JF - Health (United Kingdom)

ER -