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The Frontiers of Society, Science and Technology, 2021, 3(1); doi: 10.25236/FSST.2021.030114.

Relationships between intergenerational support and the health information avoidance behavior of the elderly

Author(s)

Yiwen Shan1, Sile Huang2

Corresponding Author:
Yiwen Shan
Affiliation(s)

1Shanghai World Foreign Language Academy, Shanghai 201102, China

2Branksome Hall, Toronto, M4W 1N4, Canada

Abstract

Health information avoidance is prevalent amongst the elderly in China, making the understanding of the causes behind such behaviors crucial. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, people still lack systematic understanding and approaches to prevent the occurrence of the elderly’s health information avoidance behaviors. This study groups the health information avoidance behavior of the elderly into six categories, including the trusting crisis, the behavior inertia of the elderly, the fear of uncertainty and unmeasurable risks, as well as technological barriers. It is proven through qualitative research that intergenerational support could successfully turn the elderly’s information evasion into active acquisition, solving each of the six root causes of the elderly’ health information avoidance behavior. Although the results in this work are collected only based on the elderly population in Shanghai, it is a thorough representation of the relationships between intergenerational support and the health information avoidance behavior of the elderly. It could serve as a reference for other cities in China as well. 

Keywords

Health information, Avoidance behavior, Intergenerational support, Family relationship, the elderly

Cite This Paper

Yiwen Shan, Sile Huang. Relationships between intergenerational support and the health information avoidance behavior of the elderly. The Frontiers of Society, Science and Technology (2021) Vol. 3, Issue 1: 88-92. https://doi.org/10.25236/FSST.2021.030114.

References

[1] Qiu Linchuan (2013). The world factory of the information age: the new working class network society. Guilin: guangxi normal university press.

[2] Xu Anqi et al. (2013). Study on Chinese family values in the transition period. Shanghai: Shanghai academy of social sciences press.

[3] Zimmer Z, Kwong J. (2003). Family Size and Support of Older Adults in Urban and Rural China: Current Effects and Future Implications. Demography, 40(1), 23-4.