Project Details
Projekt
Early childhood allergy prevention: awareness, information-seeking behavior, and information needs among different parent groups
Applicant
Professorin Dr. Marie-Luise Dierks
Subject Area
Public Health, Healthcare Research, Social and Occupational Medicine
Term
from 2019 to 2024
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 409800133
Expecting and new parents search for health information for their child for different reasons, e.g. in order to find information on medical examinations, or explore familial predispositions and respective risks for a certain disease. Aspects of health literacy (HL) and the related ability to seek, apply and reflect on information and the availability and quality of information may have a considerable impact. Recent research highlights two main aspects regarding this influence: First, parents need sufficient HL, not at least to filter high-quality from low-quality information. Second, evidence about information behaviours and preferences are crucial to strengthen the user-centered perspective of available services. However, insights into the needs and preferences of parents are scarce. Also, it is suggested that HL and different phases for information-seeking and individual backgrounds and circumstances influence actual information-seeking behaviour and motivations. The objectives of this work package (WP) are to explore 1) parental awareness, knowledge about and relevance of information specific to early childhood allergy prevention (ECAP) and handling of changing recommendations, 2) needs and preferences, 3) actual information behaviour, 4) influences on information- and prevention behaviour due to HL, and 5) potential influences on ECAP practices due to socio-cultural backgrounds, all respectively in different parent groups (risk-specific, life-stage-specific). These issues will be explored via focus groups with parents conducted at four sites (Hannover, Dresden, Freiburg, Regensburg). Based on the results we aim to 6) develop a set of information materials specific to parents’ needs and specify communication channels to deliver core messages for parent groups. The first project year serves to prepare the 16 focus groups, particularly the focus group method (manual, dramaturgy), recruiting materials, selecting participants, and testing the materials. Subsequently (year 1 and 2), focus groups will be conducted and the transcripts will be prepared for analysis. In year three, the processed data will be analysed by established qualitative and quantitative methods according to the research questions. Also, four more focus groups serve to explore how participants perceive digital health information evaluated in WP4. Based on the results, we will develop and consent communication channels and core messages for different parent groups. The planning and implementation of this WP is done in close cooperation with and based on the preliminary results of other WPs. We are working closely with "WP3 Health Professionals" regarding the target group perspectives, as well as with "WP6 Modelling" regarding the concept of allergy-specific health literacy.In addition to the focus of early childhood allergy prevention, this sub-project also investigates the effects and challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic for parents with young children. In particular, it addresses information behaviour, dealing with disinformation, and the weighing of one's own decisions under the influence of various factors such as trust and challenges in handling COVID-19 specific prevention and safety recommendations. Approximately 30 parents each will be interviewed in two phases (summer 2020; winter 2021) via individual telephone interviews, the results will be evaluated similarly to the above-mentioned procedure.
DFG Programme
Research Units
Co-Investigator
Dr. Gabriele Seidel
