Factors Influencing the Decisions of Non-Medical Professionals in Barangay Tugatog, Malabon in Choosing the Most Appropriate Health Information

Abstract

“Laughter is the best medicine” already became a household phrase, oftentimes used as a joke when someone doesn't want to take medication. Health Information in the Philippine setting is very complex. It is a combination of early traditional and modern scientific practices. Libraries play critical roles in the e-health era. They are tasked to help prevent health information seekers from being overwhelmed with the myriad of health information available to them and help select relevant and trustworthy information, and thus making informed decisions. The focus of this research is to determine the behavior of the non-medical practitioners of Brgy. Tugatog, Malabon towards health information, particularly the factors affecting decisions made by the respondents regarding health information usage and acceptance. The participants of this study are composed of non-medical practitioners: those who are not licensed medical doctors, dentists and ophthalmologists. The participants were randomly selected from Barangay Tugatog, Malabon with ages ranging from 18 and above, and were asked to answer a survey questionnaire. After analyzing the data gathered for this study, it was found out that there are three main factors that influence the decision of non-medical professionals in choosing the most appropriate health information. These are the attributes of health information source, personal biases, and the nature of needed health information.



Author Information
Asherel Joy D. Zaide, University of the Philippines, Philippines

Paper Information
Conference: LibrAsia2015
Stream: Librarianship - Library

This paper is part of the LibrAsia2015 Conference Proceedings (View)
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Posted by James Alexander Gordon