In association with Simon Fraser University & Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute
Simon Fraser University
Great Northern Way Campus
555 Great Northern Way
Vancouver, BC, Canada V5T 1E2
tel: 1.604.268.7306
fax: 1.604.268.7309
email: act4hlth@sfu.ca
website: www.sfu.ca/act4hlth
Rural Women’s Health Information Seeking: Matching e-Health Initiatives with Consumer
Realities (Theme I)
Investigator: Roma Harris
Research Partners: University of Western Ontario (Faculty of Information and Media Studies),
the Grey-Bruce-Huron-Perth District Health Council, the Huron County Health Unit, and the Huron
county Library
Background
Various models of community health information (CHI) delivery exist in Canada. These include a
variety of local-level “resource centres” providing information specific to certain diseases or
conditions, special populations, and/or a broader range of topics (health and non-health) to the
general public. Advocacy groups, often national or provincial in scope, provide information about
their specific health issue in various formats. Provincial health ministries vary in their policies
regarding CHI, but an increasingly evident trend is the advent of a centralized, government-run
health information services. These systems, designed to provide round-the-clock access to health
information and delivered almost entirely through telecommunications equipment (computers,
Internet, telephones), have evolved with seemingly little awareness of how people actually seek
health information. This is especially true for particular sub-groups of health consumers, such as
those on the “wrong side” of the digital divide: rural women. Since women are the primary
seekers of health information for their families and themselves, they represent the majority of
health information seekers. In addition, research suggests rural people may be less likely to use
certain types of health services like “advice nurses” available via telephone hotlines. Clearly,
more consideration should be given to address the gap in the way policy is developed for delivery
of health information, and the realities of consumer needs and behaviours, especially for specific
groups.
Project Description
This project explores the assumptions behind government policies related to the co-ordinated
delivery of consumer health information (CHI), and compare these to the realities of the life
contexts, health information needs, and health information seeking behaviour of rural women. [1]
Key informant interviews with decision makers in relevant provincial and regional policy and
planning bodies in Ontario are conducted to determine their views of the role of CHI in the health
of citizens, the mechanisms in place to deliver it, and the benefits that are assumed to derive from
it. Women living in rural South-western Ontario are also interviewed about their needs for health
information, as well as where and how they look for such information on behalf of themselves
and/or family members. Working with community-based partners in an underserved, thinly
populated rural county in South-western Ontario, the results of the interviews will be shared and
used to plan a larger inquiry into the needs and practices of women in the county with respect to
health information-seeking and use.
Methods
This project is divided into four phases. The first phase of the inquiry involves a needs survey of
people living in Huron County, Ontario. Based on the results, a study will be designed to evaluate
the impact of an Internet-based e-health intervention to raise awareness of a health-related issue
deemed relevant by local health care partners, delivered in partnership with a county public
In association with Simon Fraser University & Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute
Simon Fraser University
Great Northern Way Campus
555 Great Northern Way
Vancouver, BC, Canada V5T 1E2
tel: 1.604.268.7306
fax: 1.604.268.7309
email: act4hlth@sfu.ca
website: www.sfu.ca/act4hlth
library system. A key element of the project will be to explore whether a county public library
network can be an effective community intermediary for e-health services aimed at the lay public.
[1] Mismatches between delivery systems and information seekers are reported in other studies. See for example, Roma
Harris and Patricia Dewdney, Barriers to Information: How Formal Help Systems Fail Battered Women. Westport,
Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1994.