The Elderly’s Access to Social Media in Learning Health Information: A Case Study of Communities in Don Mueang District, Bangkok

Abstract

   The objectives of this research were to examine the elderly's access to social media in learning health information, and to investigate the problems elderly people facing in accessing social media to obtain health information. This study recruited 225 samples who are above sixty-year-old villagers of Pincharoen 1 – 2 community and Chumchon Sinwong community, Don Mueang District, Bangkok. The participants for examining social media access problems were 20 people who already watched the informative video. The research instruments consisted of a video clip about healthcare information for the elderly, a 3-item form for accessing social media to obtain health information for the elderly, and 4-item interview on the problems of accessing social media for the elderly in learning health information. Statistics used in this research included frequency and percentage, and content analysis.  The results showed that The video clip that most of the elderly liked to study health information through social media was a video clip titled "9 Chong San Sanook", which provided knowledge about physical health, with 105 views out of a total of 269 views of the clip, accounting for 39.03 percent; Regarding the problems faced by the elderly in accessing social media to obtain health information, it was found that the internal factors consisted of a lack of basic knowledge on how to use electronic devices to access social media and how to use social media, while the external factors included a lack of resources or limited resources to access social media, as well as the quality of the media or inappropriate video clips.