Predictors of health literacy and its role in accessing Internet health knowledge among older Canadians

This thesis examined the role of health literacy in accessing Internet health knowledge and predictors of an adequate level of health literacy among older Canadians. Eighty-eight percent of older Canadians have been estimated to posses an inadequate level of health literacy. Internet use is also growing fastest among the same group. We hypothesized that seniors with an adequate level of health literacy would be more likely to search for health information online. We further hypothesized that predisposing, enabling, and need factors would differentially predict an adequate level of health literacy. Cross-sectional data from the IALSS (2003) were used. Seniors with an adequate level of literacy were nearly three times more likely to search for health information online. Unexpectedly, Internet access emerged as the only predictor of an adequate level of health literacy. Suggestions regarding the policy, practice, and research implications of our findings were put forth.