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. 2020 Feb 4;17(3):966.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17030966.

Multidimensional eHealth Literacy for Infertility

Susie Sykes  1 , Jane Wills  1 , Daniel Frings  2 , Sarah Church  1 , Kerry Wood  2
Affiliations

Multidimensional eHealth Literacy for Infertility

Susie Sykes et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Infertility is a major public health issue and increasingly, the internet is used as a source of information and advice. The aim of this study is to understand the eHealth literacy of individuals and couples in relation to infertility. A non-probability sample of 27 participants was recruited from existing support groups, online advertising and snowballing representing the diverse population groups for whom involuntary childlessness is an issue. Information online was used both for decision making and developing interactive health literacy for health consultations. Participants may be both consumers and purveyors of information to others in distributed health literacy. Cognitive skills are required to appraise an inconsistent evidence base and potentially biased information from private providers of treatments. Accounts of geographical variations in treatment options, the cost of private treatment and for some, a sense that information and services were directed towards female and heterosexual couples, led some participants to political action online creating an important sense of empowerment. The study offers a new conceptual framework for eHealth literacy in the context of infertility, that combines use of the web and virtual communities in which functional, interactive, critical and distributed health literacy play a part in an online environment.

Keywords: digital health literacy; distributed health literacy; eHealth literacy; fertility health literacy; online fertility information.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
New conceptualization of eHealth Literacy in context of infertility.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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