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Health Information Needs, Sources Avalibility and their use by Eldelry People in South India: A Case Study of Kalagi, A Gram Panchayat in Chittapur Taluk of Gulbarga District, India

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Author Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Library and Information Science, Gulbarga University, Gulbarga – 585 106, INDIA

Res. J. Library Sci., Volume 2, Issue (6), Pages 7-11, November,21 (2014)

Abstract

The study explores the health information needs, information sources availability and their use by elderly people living in a rural place situated in South India. Data was collected using structured interview schedule. Majority of the respondents were male, aged above 60 years and belonged to schedule caste and schedule tribes. Most frequently mentioned health information needs are that of typhoid fever (94.55%), HIV/AIDS (93.64%), cholera (91.82%) and asthma (90.91%). 89.09 percent of respondents need health information about malaria and pox. Community health centers (93.64%), Anganwadi centers (98.18%) and Doctors (95.45%) were the sources available for getting health information followed by nurses (87.27%), Panchayat libraries (81.82%) and neighbors. Medical stores, family members and posters were used by more than 60 percent of the respondents. The present study is of exploratory nature; further research is required to know the health information seeking behavior of elderly in rural setting.

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