Health information access and use in rural Uganda : an interaction-value model.

The study investigated the accessibility and use of health information within the
lower echelons of Primary Health Care service delivery. Hence, it focused on women
and health workers' experiences with information in rural Uganda. Face-to-face
interviews were conducted using an interview schedule that consisted of open
questions and one relating to health information critical incidents. The qualitative
interviews added depth, detail and meaning at a very personal level of experience. A
holistic inductive paradigm was used in the study with a grounded theory analysis.
This approach was adopted because of its ability to generate findings inductively
from empirical data.
An 'Interaction-value model' emerged from the study. The model was driven by the
value and impact of information unlike previous information models which have
been driven by information needs. This study has demonstrated that although an
information need could trigger off an information activity, the subsequent
information process could only be sustained by the value of information. Hence,
access and use of information depends on the value and impact of information to
overcome or reduce constraints. The value of information is therefore the core
category, while the moderation of constraints and interaction with sources for latent
or apparent needs are the two main categories that make up the model.
The study has also shown that not all information users are active seekers. The main
difference between the two groups of interviewees was that health workers' needs
were generally apparent and led to active information seeking, whereas the women's
needs were generally latent. Women mainly accessed information passively.
Passivity, however, was generally limited to the act of accessing information. After
passive information access, the subsequent user behaviour was active. Hence,
women passively accessed information, but actively used it. Women's information
behaviour was therefore dynamic. This was confirmed throughout the study when,
for example, their information needs changed from latent to active and vice versa.
The difference in the findings appears to stem from the fact that for women, the
process of information access and use was dependant on the relationship and
interaction between their social and information environment in everyday life; while
for the health workers, professional matters added a further dimension to their
information activities.
The ways in which women and health workers accessed and used information as
elaborated in this study have a number of implications for improving information
provision, policies, training of health workers, and further research.