Profiling Cancer Patients Based on Their Motives for Seeking Informational and Emotional Support Online
S. Duimel, Annemiek J. Linn, Ellen M.A. Smets, Eline Suzanne Smit, Julia C.M. van Weert
Abstract
= 15, 8.0%). Patients across these profiles differed in their eHealth literacy, with the contact exchangers being more eHealth literate than the overall seekers and occasional information seekers. The results can be used to create awareness among health care providers, web designers, and patient organizations on different types of cancer patients with different motives for seeking informational and/or emotional support online, and help them to tailor recommendations to and development of (online) sources that fit patients' needs. Future research could further investigate the integration of stress and coping theory with UGT by acknowledging the interplay of different coping strategies and different gratifications.